2016 Football Information
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2016 FOOTBALL INFORMATION
July 23, 2016
The official 2016 CIF Los Angeles City Section football season begins Thursday, August 25. The conditioning sessions that follow the Summer Football Timeline may be held beginning Monday, July 25, for all schools. All athletic paperwork must be cleared and eligibility requirements met before a player may participate in any practice sessions beginning July 25. All non-restricted summer activities, to include passing league games or tournaments, will terminate as of the start of your official fall conditioning sessions. Any modification to the established timeline must have Section approval. School and League Schedules can be obtained from CIF Los Angeles City Section web site at www.cif-la.org.
RULES
The Official Football Rules of the National Federation of State High School Associations shall govern all contests when not in conflict with rules of the CIF Los Angeles City Section.
CIF RULE CHANGES
All coaches and athletes must be aware of CIF Rules (and changes) as they pertain to student eligibility and the sport of football. Refer to the Rules and Regulations Governing Interscholastic Athletics (CIF LA CITY SECTION GOLD BOOK). For all rule changes and general information go to the CIF Los Angeles City Section website at www.cif-la.org.
· CIF Bylaw 1901 B – Limited to two (2) days per week of full contact practice, with no more than 90 minutes of full contact on each of those days during the season of sport. All full contact practices are prohibited in the off-season which includes team camps.
· CIF Bylaw 503 – A sudden cardiac arrest information sheet shall be signed and returned by all athletes and parent or guardian before the athlete’s initial practice. Concussion protocols must be in place.
2016 NFHS FOOTBALL RULES CHANGES
1-5-1 a Completely clear or completely white tooth and mouth protectors are no longer prohibited. Tooth and month protectors shall include an occlusal (protecting and separating the biting surfaces) portion and include a labial (protecting the teeth and supporting structures) portion.
1-5-2 football gloves are now required to meet either the new SFIA specification or the existing NOCSAE test standard at the time of manufacture.
2-17; 9-3-6 In a continued effort to minimize risk, the Committee made CLIPPING IN THE FREE-BLOCKING ZONE ILLEGAL. Clipping is now illegal anywhere on the field at any time.
9-3 PENALTY
NFHS POINTS OF EMPHYSIS
1. Risk Minimization
2. Legal and Illegal Blocks
3. Legal Jerseys, Pants and Pads
4. Unfair Acts
· NFHS Rule Book – refer to NFHS rule website www.nfhs.org
· Section website, www.cif-la.org
A CIF Rules and Regulations Session will be conducted at all schools for all fall sports athletes and coaches during the week of August 15. This meeting is to be lead by the Athletic Director and Administrator in-charge of athletics. All required athletic clearance information is to be provided to the parents and required awareness forms signed and maintained on file with the athletic director.
PRACTICE LIMITATIONS
No practice can be held on Sundays. With administrative approval, practice is allowed on Saturdays and holidays. CIF Bylaw 506 - Practice limitation (18 hours of practice time per week, 4 hours limitation per day, game games count as 3 hours toward the week total.)
GAME START TIME
Prior to the first Sunday in November, all afternoon games will begin at 3:00 p.m. After the change to Standard Time, afternoon games begin at 2:15 p.m. Junior Varsity games played as part of a night double-header must terminate no later than 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the Varsity game. Junior Varsity games will be timed as per the old National Federation timing rule, and does not apply to Varsity games. Sundown Rules will terminate a day contest 10 minutes after sunset when no stadium lighting is available. Check sunset chart for accurate sunset time.
SCRIMMAGES
Per Board of Managers approval (June 2011), all schools are permitted a single inter-school scrimmage for each level prior to the first game of the season. A scrimmage may be scheduled between August 19 and August 27. Students must have participated in ten practices (to include the scrimmage) to participate in a scrimmage.
A scrimmage is a training session between two or more schools where no score is kept, no officials are paid, coaches are allowed to be on the field of play and an even number of plays are alternately run by both teams. The ball may be advanced with down and distance marked. TO REDUCE UNNECESSARY COLISSIONS DURING A SCRIMMAGE, KICKOFF IS NOT ALLOWED during a scrimmage. Scrimmages can use officials for their training purposes when no fees are charged. Refer to the GOLD BOOK Rule 1314 for Section scrimmage policies.
SCHEDULING CONTEST
It is strongly recommended that a contract be signed by administrators for all non-league multi-year agreements. All schools are required to honor all signed contracts. To minimize game changes, the athletic director and head coach must check for accuracy of the master schedule as soon as it is released. Game changes will only be considered under extenuating circumstances and emergency situations. All game schedule information is accessible on the Section web site at www.cif-la.org
FOOTBALL COACHES’ MEETING
A mandatory meeting for Head Football Coaches will be held on Saturday, July 23, at Garfield High School Auditorium. Registration will begin at 7:30 AM and the Coaches Region Meetings will begin at 8:00 AM. This meeting is in conjunction with the Football Advisory meeting. This year there will be presentations on concussion signs and symptoms, NFHS rule review, and CIF requirements and new Bylaws. All paid coaches are required to attend the coaches meeting, volunteer coaches in the LA City Section are invited to attend per Bylaw 512 (BOM 2014).
COACHING REQUIREMENTS – BYLAW 512
All paid and volunteer coaches must complete the CIF Coaching Education requirement as directed by the State CIF on a one time bases prior to working with students. On-line CIF LA City Section Orientation of Coaching courses are offered on the Human Kinetics Coaching Education web site at www.humankinetics.org. Also accepted by the CIF is the Coaching education offered on the National Federation web site at www.nfhs.net. Additionally, all coaches are required to complete the NFHS online Concussion Training, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Training, and First Aid CPR training every two years. Check with your athletic director for discount information for the course offered by Human Kinetics.
OFFICIALS
All officials will be assigned by Tony Crittendon, the official’s assigner for the Football Officials Association, Los Angeles Unit. New fee rates have been approved by the BOM for the 2016 season. Refer to Bylaw 1300 - 1307 for officials procedures and fees.
OFFICIAL FOOTBALL
NIKE is the Official Ball Sponsor for the CIF Los Angeles City Section in the sport of football. Teams that qualify for the playoffs will receive one (1) NIKE Vapor One football (model - FT0222-201).
MEDICAL ATTENDANT – BYLAW 1913
Schools and Districts are encouraged to provide an athletic trainer or certified medical attendant at every inter-school scrimmage and game. Arrangements for medical service and verification of certification shall be the responsibility of and arranged by the host school. The Section and Officials of the game will not be responsible for the management of the medical attendant.
GAME SECURITY
Schools will be responsible for the financial requirements of hiring Police Officers for football games. Schools without facility lighting that select to purchase temporary lighting to host a night game accept the responsibility for all additional expenses incurred with the change; this is to include additional police and security expenses. Portable lighting systems must meet similar height and luminous standards as permanent field lighting.
TIE-BREAKER FOR ALL VARSITY FOOTBALL CONTESTS
The CIF Los Angeles City Section has authorized a tie-breaker utilizing a “25-yard” line overtime procedure for all regular season, playoff and championship contests for which the score is tied at the end of regulation time. All NFHS game procedures and rules will continue to be enforced, only the procedure of starting the series at the 25 yard line and beginning with the third extra period, teams scoring a touchdown must attempt a 2 points try. Please refer to the Orange Book for additional information. State CIF contest will continue to use the 10 yard overtime procedure.
MERCY RULE – BYLAW 1908
At the conclusion of the third quarter or any point thereafter, if there is a point differential of 35 or more points, a running clock shall be instituted for the remainder of the game regardless of the score from that point forward. The game clock shall stop only for a score, a free kick following a fair catch or awarded fair catch, a charged team timeout, a coach-referee conference or an officials’ timeout. This bylaw applies to all levels of play.
(Approved May 2011 Federated Council)
ENTRY INTO PLAYOFFS
Divisions I, II & III will be predetermined based on a two year ranking every odd calendar year (BOM approval June 2011). Detailed division placement and playoff information will be distributed at the coaches’ pre–season meeting. It is the responsibility of the individual coach to notify the Section Office by 1:00 PM on the date of the seeding meeting of any discrepancies with the film exchange (other than quality of film issues). Playoff Brackets will be posted on the Section Website immediately following the completion of each divisional seeding, (10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, and 12:00 PM) Coaches are responsible for contacting the opposing coach in a timely manner to arrange for the film exchange immediately following the release of the playoff brackets. Any school that determines it will not accept a playoff bid, must inform their league representative and have their administration notify the Section Office prior to the seeding meeting date.
Coaches are required to post all game scores each week of the season on the Max Preps web site. The final game score must be posted on Max Preps immediately following the completion of the last game. This information will be used the following day to develop the ranking data for the seeding. The last date for a scheduled league or non-league game is Friday, November 4.
PLAYOFF SEEDING
Division I, II, and III Playoff Dates:
Seeding Meeting Saturday, November 5 Section Office, 10660 White Oak Ave., Suite 216, Granada Hills,
Bracket Information Posted on Section Website Division I - 9:00 AM
Division II - 10:30 AM
Division III - 12:00 PM
PLAYOFF DATES
First Round Friday, November 11 Home site of Higher Seed
Quarterfinals Friday, November 18 Home site of Higher Seed
Semifinals Friday, November 25 Home site of Higher Seed
D I, II, & III - Finals Saturday, December 3 TBD
Eight Man (Small Schools) Playoff Dates:
Seeding Meeting Saturday, November 5 Section Office - 8:30 AM
First Round Friday, November 11 Home site of Higher Seed
Finals TBD TBD
PLAYOFF REVENUE – NEW
Round one and two revenue will be shared 60% host school / 40% visiting school. Playoff revenue in the semi and final rounds will be 100% the revenue of the Section. (BOM 2016)
CIF STATEWIDE PARTNER READS
The attached announcements are to be read by the PA announcer at each home game as prescribed.
For assistance, please contact the CIF Los Angeles City Section Office
APPROVED: John A. Aguirre, Commissioner
DISTRIBUTION: Athletic Director, Head Football Coach, Financial Manager