Flag Football Regional Experiences

Michigan Student Officials (left to right): Jake Homan (UM), Matt Massey (WMU), Shane Gallagher (UM), and Mason Kaiser (GVSU)

Happy Belated Halloween! While many were out trick-or-treating, a few Michigan students and professionals made the trek down to South Bend, IN to attend the Notre Dame Shamrock Classic Flag Football Regional Tournament.

Officials Committee:
Darin Leigh-WMU

All-Tournament Committee:
Andy Boehnlein-UM

Operations Committee:
Sarah DiStefano-Oakland
Kyle Bowen (currently an intern at ND, did his undergrad at GVSU)
Matt Jones (IUPUI, WMU grad, EMU undergrad)

Director of Social Media and Photography:
Scott George-CMU (Most photos below can be credited to Scott!)

Amid some of the falling snow on Friday, the committees got to pick up some awesome free swag while the officials got to be introduced to the clinicians and special guest clinician B1G Official John Roggeman. Afterwards we got to have a lovely pasta dinner and social at the Legends of Notre Dame restaurant near the stadium before heading off to bed to get started for the early day.

Saturday

Saturday started off icy and clear as the staff and officials got an early start. On the Operations Committee we helped to set up the fields, banners, get score and stat sheets ready for the day. Saturday was cold and definitely left some windburn on our faces, but the sky was clear to start games off right.



There were 4 women's teams, 4 co-rec teams, and 14 men's teams playing their pool games on Saturday. Another cool Michigan fact is that there were four men's teams from the state of Michigan and all four made it to the quarterfinals on Sunday! The four teams were the Lake Michigan College Red Hawks, Olivet College, Michigan State University Sexy Sophomores, and Southwestern Michigan College. Our officials got to show off what they learned throughout the day and improve on their own officiating skills. This is what Mason from GVSU has to say about his experiences:

"My favorite part of the weekend was the collection of all of the different officials, starting friendships with them, and learning the different tendencies they have have and even creating new ones for myself, from what I learned from them.
One of the biggest things I got out of my experience there was how to make myself a better official, second was to always carry yourself professionally, and the final thing I took away from this was be open minded to criticism and making new friends.
Don't make the mistake I did and wait so long to go to one of these. You will learn a great deal and make yourself a better official, supervisor, and person in general."

Don Conner (IRSA Student Leader)
 and I at the ND Hockey game.

After a full day of game play, the staff were (somewhat) able to warm up by attending a Notre Dame hockey game at the Compton Family Ice Arena! We got a few private boxes and an all-you-can-eat buffet dinner. Thanks to the Notre Dame Staff for their hospitality all weekend long!

Sunday

You would think that getting an extra hour of sleep due to the reversal of Daylight Savings Time would help us all waking up for another early morning. Unfortunately I think most of us were bleary-eyed and needed an extra cup of coffee to help wake us up if the cold Midwestern wind didn't do the job enough. With another sunny day ahead, playoff games started early at 9am as the officials worked the hardest to earn the chance to officiate one of the championship games. Here's what Jake Homan (UM) has to share about his experiences:

"My favorite part of the weekend was hanging out with officials from all over the area and learning things from them that I could then take back and apply at my own school.I learned how important communication was and I just had a lot of fun.To a newer official I would say that it's a great experience that will make you a better official, teach you a lot, and you'll have a great time."

Tournament Staff watching the final games

As the day wore on, the Championship games began with the CoRec game between two ND teams, Burn Early and Better Than Michigan with Burn Early taking home the CoRec title!

Augustana College's Viktorious Secret took on Howard University Dream for the Women's Championship and Howard took home that trophy. Mason Kasier, an official from GVSU, was the down box official for the Women's Championship game! Here's what Matt Massey wanted to share about the Shamrock Classic:

  "My favorite part of the weekend was working with other talented officials and clinicians. I learned a lot and I feel that I have become a better official because of this tournament.
     A couple skills that I took out of this experience is how to use feedback to improve my skills and also how to use communication to effectively and efficiently officiate a game with my new officials.

Matt Massey as Field Judge

     I would tell an official that officiating at regional tournaments improves your skills exponentially and you will gain valuable officiating experience. The socials and the extra activities are also a blast!"

The Men's Final looked like a B1G Championship match-up as the MSU Sexy Sophomores took on Wisconsin-Madison. MSU was able to take home the championship with a 19-0 win! Matt Massey (WMU) was the Field Judge and Shane Gallagher (UM) was the down box official for the Men's Final. Here's what Shane had to say about his experiences at the Shamrock Classic:

"The favorite part of my weekend had to be the ND vs Vermont Hockey game. Press box seats and unlimited food, can’t beat that.     My understanding of the rules, and mechanics of the game have vastly increased after attending the Shamrock Tournament. Not to mention I made a couple friends while I was there.

Shane Gallagher as the Down Box official

     As a new flag football official myself, it was definitely a great experience. The staff was very friendly to me and took the time to explain what I could do better. It was a trial by fire, because you are thrown right into the action. At the same time you have three other experienced officials right there helping you out along the way. This was an unique experience that I am glad I was able to participate in, and one of the best ways I find to learn is through hands-on experience." 

All in all it was an awesome experience to network with other professionals, students, and a great learning opportunity!

If you're interested in attending an extramural tournament or getting additional officiating experience, check out some of the upcoming events linked below and stay tuned for more information!

Michigan's Basketball Officiating Clinic: Sunday November 23 at Grand Valley State University. Register by November 19th!

Regional Basketball Tournaments

February 27-March 1, 2015
University of Dayton
Matt Ferdinand, 937-229-2709

March 13-15, 2015
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Jessica Gentry, 217-244-8033