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IMPORTANT MEETING NOTE<\/b><\/p>During the Sept 24 CFOA meeting, there was some confusion between what constitutes a Sideline Warning vs a Sideline Interference call. In particular, it was stated that if an official has to change direction or “move around” a coach, that it should be flagged as 15-yard Sideline Interference penalty.\u00a0 However, this statement was based on NCAA rules\/interpretation, and is incorrect at the NFHS level.<\/div>
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Inadvertent contact with someone in the restricted area falls under rule 9-4-8.\u00a0 That would be a 15-yard penalty, and if it happens a second time the head coach is disqualified by rule.<\/div>
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However, if there is no contact, and the official has to run around the person in the restricted area would NOT be a 15-yard penalty.\u00a0 This falls under 9-8-1k and 9-8-3.\u00a0 When this happens, the official should still throw a flag.\u00a0 For the first offense, a no-penalty sideline warning is given.\u00a0 For the second offense, a 5-yard penalty is enforced.\u00a0 For the third and subsequent offenses, a 15-yard penalty is enforced.<\/div>
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More information will be provided soon.\u00a0 One main point of emphasis remains – officials should always avoid running into people in the restricted area when possible.\u00a0 While sometimes contact will still occur as you have your focus on the field, do not deliberately cause contact in order to ‘send a message’ and get the 15-yarder.\u00a0 That has potential to lead to injury, and potentially legal trouble.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t