If you have a rule change proposal that you would like the NFHS Rules Committee to address, please click here and follow the directions on the Rule Change Proposal form, complete and submit the form.

The deadline for submitting proposals for the 2020 - 2021 basketball season is March 1, 2020. 

All proposals submitted will first go to your state office for review and if your state office approves your proposal, they will forward it to the NFHS.   

If you would like to submit a proposal, please begin the process now and submit your proposal early enough to allow time for your state office athletics representative to review and forward to the NFHS before the March 1st deadline.

To avoid complications, a few days after you submit your proposal you may want to verify receipt by your state office.   

The dates of the NFHS Basketball Rules Committee Meeting are April 14th - 16th, 2020.  If you have any questions, please contact one of the Coordinators of Interpreters. 

T.J. Halliday - tj.halliday@mainegeneral.org  
Dan Shepardson - dshepardson@cvsdvt.org  
David Smith - ddsmith1985@outlook.com
Layne Drexel - laynedrexel@aol.com

On a September night 2019 at around 10:30 PM I was heading to my car to return home for the evening when my cell phone rang. It was Lisa.  Lisa has worked for me the last 23 years.  There was the sound of stress in her voice.  "Steve?, what are you doing right now?" Lisa says.
I told her I was getting into my car.  "Why?" I asked
In a stressed voice, Lisa proceeds to tell me how she had cleaned her earrings in the office earlier in the day and thinks she might have thrown them out with her trash from lunch. There were 3 sets; Rubies, Emeralds and Diamonds.  Some were from her dad who had given them to her before his passing.
Lisa's lives 60 minutes from the office. I was only 10 minutes away at the time.  I told Lisa that I would go to the office and look to see if the cleaning crew had emptied out her trash yet, but I told her that I thought they typically did that around 7:00 PM each night.  Lisa said that she was pretty sure she folded them into a neatly folded paper towel.
As I arrived at the office, there were no cars around.  Not a good sign.  The cleaners must be gone.  I walked up to the second floor.  Looking into the trash receptacle in Lisa's office there is nothing.  The trash was gone!  Placed into the community dumpster in the office park we work in.
I called Lisa to give her the bad news.  She was disappointed but thanked me for looking anyway.  We hung up the phones.
Walking out I said to myself "What would Lisa do in this instance?".  Lisa is one of the kindest individuals I know.  I knew what I had to do.
I proceeded to the dumpster in the back of the office park.  I know that day I had cut up some plastic cards and put them into my trash.  If I could find that bag, I would surely find the trash from her office.
Getting to the big blue dumpster, it was full.  No, it was overflowing.  Now it's about 11 PM on a Friday.  It's been a long week.  I placed my car headlights on the dumpster.  I start taking out the bags from the top of the dumpster and organizing them on the ground in a systematic fashion.
Going through bag after bag, I'm not finding the plastic cards I'm looking for. Continuing, another bag, another bag.  Nothing.  Now it's 11:25 PM.  Wait, there's a clue!  No plastic cards, but an envelope with my name on it.  Another envelope for an office mate.  This must be it!  But it's late....
I decide to put the bag in my car and bring it home.  It will be easier to look for a small napkin in the daylight.  I take the trash bag and I put the bag on the barrel outside my house.
In the morning, it's 6:10 AM.  My cell phone is buzzing.  It's Lisa.  She has a commitment she can't get out of, but she is sending her friend Tammy to the office to go through the dumpster.  I text Lisa.  "I went dumpster diving last night.  I have a bag at the house that I think might be the one with the earrings in it.  Let me go through that."
I bring the bag inside and start to go through it with my wife on the kitchen counter.  No luck.  No plastic cards and no jewelry.  I head back to the office, this time with my wife in hand.
Again, placing trash bags in a systematic fashion we start rifling through the bags once again.  I tell me wife about the plastic cards. "Keep an eye out for those." I say.
Opening dirty bag after dirty bag.  ...Bag 10, Bag 11, Bag 12...
Tammy arrives to assist.  As she is putting on some plastic gloves, "Wait!" I say to my wife.  "There are the plastic cards!   Go slow.  This has to be it!"
My wife is removing each item out of the bag and inspects each item closely.  Finally, a neatly folded paper towel amongst some mushy lunch trash.
She unfolds each fold. fold 1, fold 2....fold 6...  Yes!  There they are!  We did it!
We text Lisa a picture of the Earrings.  She is ecstatic!
Tammy's says "I'll take them to Lisa.  Lisa was looking forward to wearing them today as her stepdaughter is getting married today and they match her outfit!"
As Tammy drives off with the prized possessions, my wife and I return all the bags back to the dumpster.  It's time to go get cleaned up!

Benjy Bluman is grateful he’s alive and able to attend games as a fan.So too is the Western New York boys basketball community after the 74-year-old Hall of Fame referee almost died after his heart stopped beating while officiating a game on Dec. 28 at Williamsville North High School.  Click here to read more.

Make a difference in your community and become a high school official. #BecomeAnOfficial. Click here to read more.

SEATTLE — Sports officials throughout Washington state are asking for help.
The Puget Sound region in particular is dealing with a shortage of people to referee games.
In the last decade, Washington's population has grown by 700,000 people. It means more sports leagues, schools, and teams. Yet, the number of people to officiate those games continues to decline.  Click here to read more.

DES MOINES, Iowa - A proposed bill that would increase the criminal penalties for anyone who assaults a sports referee now may be dead.
State Rep. Tom Moore is a wrestling official for 38 years and member of the Iowa High School Athletic Association Officials 2009 Hall of Fame class. Click here to view the story.

IBy Richard Greco | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Referee Jonathan Cohen and his crew stand at center ice and watch two high school hockey teams shake hands after a hard-fought 45 minutes.

In the NHL, the handshake line is sacred. Images from post-Stanely Cup final handshakes are immortalized in history.

In high school, the storied ritual is much more common and occurs after every game. It ends with each player taking their turn thanking officials for their time.

The NJSIAA wants everyone to learn from these hockey players. It is encouraging student-athletes, coaches and even fans to follow their lead during Officials Appreciation Week, which will take place from Monday, Jan. 27 through Sunday, Feb. 2.

“When the kids come up to us after the game - whether they agreed with some of the calls or not - they’re not stewing about it. They put it behind them,” Cohen said. “That’s what we are all really hoping that coaches are teaching. The game is the game during the game, but when the game is over, it’s time to move on.”

For some fans, coaches and even players, moving on is difficult.
In extreme cases, officials need to be escorted out of gyms or rinks by police. Nearly all of them have had insults hurled at them. As a result, the number of referees is quickly diminishing and threatening the state of high school sports as we know it.

Inappropriate behavior from parents and fans has been cited as the main reason for the national shortage of referees with 62.3-percent of officials saying that they are dealing with aggressive parents and adult fans according to an Op-Ed piece from NFHS Executive Director Dr. Karissa L. Niehoff. On Jan. 9, in New Jersey, an adult ran onto the court amid an incident between girls basketball players, dangerously escalating it into what one coach called a “riot situation.”  Click here to read more.  

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