Information for Potential, New and Transferring Officials

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Information for Potential, New and
Transferring Officials

• Florida High School Athletic Association

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• Welcome to the Florida High School Athletic
  Association!

• Objective This presentation will answer
  frequently asked questions for
• Individuals who are interested in high school
  officiating, but never have officiated
• Newly registered officials
• Transferring officials (from other states).
• We hope you find this to be of assistance.
• Thank you for your interest in giving back!

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Requirements for all officials

• Register with a local officials association
• Register with the FHSAA
• View the mandatory online rules video
  presentation
• Take the mandatory online open or closed book
  rules examination
• Comply with the Jessica Lunsford Act !!!

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Register with a local officials association

• You must join and maintain membership in a local
  official association which has been sanctioned by
  the FHSAA Office. A local association must grant
  such an individual conditional membership until
  such time as the individual is registered with
  the FHSAA Office.
• To locate an association near you, please visit
  our website at http//officials.fhsaa.org/ or
  contact the Officials Registrar at [phone]
  extension 290.

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Register with the FHSAA

• Registration with the FHSAA is mandatory.
• FHSAA registers officials in the following
  sports
• Baseball Softball
• Basketball Swimming and Diving
• Football Track and Field
• Flag football Volleyball
• Lacrosse Wrestling
• Soccer Water polo

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Register with the FHSAA, continued

• Requirements for Registration
• 1. Be 18 years of age or older
• 2. Submit to the FHSAA Office a valid
  application for registration
• (available online)
• 3. Pay appropriate non-refundable registration
  fees
• 4. Join and maintain membership in a local
  officials association
• (must declare local officials association at time
  of registration)
• 5. Certify that you have never been arrested for
  or convicted of a felony

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Register with the FHSAA, continued

• Requirements for Registration
• 1. Be 18 years of age or older
• The FHSAA has a Student Officials Program which
  allows a 16 year old (or older) high school
  student to register and work as a contest
  official.
• Student officials will be allowed to work middle
  school (6th-8th grades) and junior high contests
  (8th-9th grades).
• Student officials ARE NOT REQUIRED to complete
  the online rules video and online exam.

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Register with the FHSAA, continued

• Requirements for Registration
• 2. Submit to the FHSAA Office a valid
  application for registration
• (available online)
• The registration form may be accessed at
  http//tech.fhsaa.org/.

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Register with the FHSAA, continued

• Requirements for Registration
• 3. Pay appropriate non-refundable registration
  fees
• To register, an official must pay 27 per sport
  plus a 7 processing fee.
• Example, registration for two sports at the same
  time of registering is 61. Registration for
  two sports, registering at two different times,
  i.e. fall sport and spring sport is total of 68.

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Register with the FHSAA, continued

• Requirements for Registration
• 4. Join and maintain membership in a local
  officials association
• (must declare local officials association at time
  of registration).
• The local association contact information may be
  requested at officials_at_fhsaa.org. Be sure to
  include your city location and sport(s) of
  interest.

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Register with the FHSAA, continued

• Requirements for Registration
• 5. Certify that you have never been arrested for
  or convicted of a felony.
• This begins the compliance process in accordance
  with Jessica Lundsford Act!!!
• If the answer to this question is yes, officials
  are encouraged to complete the background check
  and get clearance prior to completing the
  registration process.
• For more information regarding this, please
  contact the FHSAA Office at officials_at_fhsaa.org.

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Register with the FHSAA, continued

• An application for registration can be made
  online at www.fhsaa.org and by clicking on the
  contest officials page, or the ifhsaa link.
• Prior to registering, you will need
• to obtain a valid email account,
• have the name of your local officials association
  available and
• be able to pay using a Visa or MasterCard.
• Once youve completed your registration and your
  payment has been processed, your name will be
  electronically submitted to your local officials
  association as well as to the FHSAAs roster of
  registered officials.

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View the online rules video presentation

• Each FHSAA official must complete a minimum of
  one FHSAA online rules video presentation in the
  sport(s) in which he or she is registered in each
  year. This must be completed by the designated
  date (deadline).
•  

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• View the online rules video presentation,
  continued

• To access the online rules video presentation go
  to the eClassroom link of the FHSAA Webpage at
  www.fhsaa.org. At the end of each presentation
  you will be asked for important information this
  office needs in order to credit you for your
  participation. You will also be able to print a
  certificate of completion for your records. The
  online rules video presentations only runs for a
  certain period of time in which you can receive
  credit. Please be sure to visit the officials
  page of FHSAAs website for dates.  

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View the online rules video presentation,
continued

• At the end of the video rules presentation cycle
  in each sport, officials who fail to complete a
  mandatory FHSAA online video rules presentation
  in the sport(s) for which they are registered
  shall be suspended, effective immediately, from
  officiating. This suspension shall be lifted
  upon payment of the non-completion fine in the
  amount of 50.00.
• An appeal for waiver of penalties may be
  submitted to the FHSAA no later than 15 calendar
  days from the date of the last scheduled online
  video rules presentation for consideration.
•  

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Take the mandatory online rules exam

• Taking the exam is required each year, for each
  sport that you register in with the FHSAA. You
  can access the exams through the eClassroom link
  of FHSAAs website at http//www.fhsaa.org/eclassr
  oom/.
• The FHSAA requires a 75 or higher to officiate
  varsity competition.
• Failure to take the rules exam by the designated
  date (deadline) will result in a 50.00 fine and
  suspension.

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Take the mandatory online rules exam, continued

• Exams are administered online under the following
  guidelines

Open Book Consists of 50 questions (True / False
and/or Multiple Choice Unlimited time to complete
Closed Book Consists of 50 questions (True /
False and/or Multiple Choice 50 minutes to
complete
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Comply with the Jessica Lunsford Act

• Officials are independent contractors and require
  a level 2 screening (background check). This is a
  check of a person's background via state and
  national databases to ascertain whether the
  individual has been convicted of a crime(s) and
  its/their nature. It requires you to file with
  the district school board a set of fingerprints
  taken by an authorized law enforcement agency or
  an employee of the school or school district who
  is trained to take fingerprints.
• You may refer to Florida Statutes 1012.467 and
  1012.468 at
• http//www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?mode
  View20StatutesSubMenu1App_modeDisplay_Statut
  eSearch_String1012.467URLCH1012/Sec467.HTM.

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Comply with the Jessica Lunsford Act

• Your local officials association will need your
  finger print clearance prior to assigning you.
  You may contact your local county school district
  office for information regarding locations to
  complete the fingerprint process.

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Q. Im really interested in officiating. How do
  I get started?
• A. First youll need to register with the FHSAA,
  as well as with the local officials association
  in your area. Once registered, you will be
  required to view one FHSAA sponsored rules video
  and take the exam online. Your local officials
  association will assign you based on your
  knowledge of the rules, clinic attendance and
  exam grade. Your name will also be searched
  against the states sexual predators list by the
  county school board to comply with the Jessica
  Lunsford Act.

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Q. How do I find a local officials association in
  my area?
• A. Send an email to the FHSAA office at
  officials_at_fhsaa.org, identifying your location
  (city of residence) and sport in which you are
  interested in officiating. The FHSAA staff
  representative will provide contact information
  for the local association. The official is
  advised to make contact with the individual(s) to
  make arrangements to join the local association
  and attend meetings.
• Q. Does the local officials association charge a
  fee?
• A. Yes, however, you will need to contact your
  local officials association to confirm the cost.

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Q. How do I get game assignments?
• A. Once registering with FHSAA is complete and
  contact with the local association is
  established, the local association will advise of
  the assignment process used.
• Many associations require training meeting
  attendance or evaluation of level of officiating
  as a part of the assignment process.

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Q. I am an experienced official transferring from
  another state and worked numerous state
  championships in my previous state. How will
  this affect the level of contests to which Im
  assigned by my local association?
• A. See answer to previous question. ?. Be advised
  that Floridas policies and procedures may differ
  from other states.

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Q. If transferring from another state, how do I
  get credit for my years of experience?
• A. The state associations office will need to
  communicate (or verify) years of experience to
  the FHSAA. Please note that all years of
  experience may not be accepted.
• Q. What are the start-up costs as a new official?
• A. Good question! Registration cost,
  fingerprinting costs, uniform cost. Many local
  officials associations have special incentive
  programs for new officials to help offset costs.

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Q. I have a new official wanting to register and
  the mandatory rules presentation is over, can
  this person still register?
• A. Yes, a new official who registers after all
  rules videos have concluded will be exempt
  his/her first year only .
• Q. Do new officials pay a late registration fee?
• A. No.

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Q. Ive registered to officiate, but my plans
  have changed. May I have a refund of my
  registration fee?
• A. Registration fees are non-refundable. However,
  officials should notify the FHSAA office directly
  to ensure that no fines are assessed for failure
  to complete the online rules exam or online rules
  presentation (video).

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Q. I currently live out-of-state and travel to
  Florida during the season. Am I still
  responsible for meeting the requirements of
  online exam and rules presentation?
• A. Because of online testing and rules
  presentation accessibility, officials who reside
  out of state will be required to meet the same
  requirements as officials who reside in Florida.

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Frequently Asked Questions

• Q. How much does it cost to register with FHSAA?
• A. Registration cost 27.00 per sport and 7.00
  for the processing fee.
• Q. When can I register?
• A. Registration begins in June for the following
  school season. Fall sports are due no later than
  July 14th, winter sports are due no later than
  September 1st and spring no later than December
  1st.

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Requirements for all officials (Summary)

• Register with a local officials association
• Register with the FHSAA
• View the mandatory online rules video
  presentation
• Take the mandatory online open or closed book
  rules examination
• Comply with the Jessica Lunsford Act!!!