Mon.-Thurs., July 28-31, 2025
After a quiet Monday, enjoyed a fun three days with friends and family.
On Taco Tuesday we met up with
Brian and Koreen FitzGerald
at the El Rey Cantina in Camarillo
Their street tacos were OUTSTANDING just like the company.
On Wednesday we headed over to Michael and Vanessa's home for lunch, some pool time and a stunning discovery.
Ten year old Mary and Laurie
now have the exact same shoe size
But not for long I suspect.
Thursday was highlighted by not one but two events.
Channel Coast Football Officials Association
Annual Clinic
The local referees were gearing up for the fast approaching season that sees their members officiating Pop Warner, Girls HS Flag football and high school tackle football games in Ventura County.
Additionally, some of their more proficient officials also work junior college and NCAA games.
This BBQ/Clinic held in the Library at Rio Mesa H.S. was meant to get them all focused at the task at hand as the first flag football games are only 11 days away.
CCFOA Board Member Brett Phillips
While coaching at Rio Mesa HS in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I had the distinct honor of coaching with Brett's Father, Ed, who was our Offensive Coordinator. Ed would later become the highly esteemed Principal at RMHS in the early 2000s.
Unfortunately, Ed would pass away much too soon in 2004 of a heart attack suffered at the end of our C.I.F. playoff game against Righetti HS.
A few years after this tragedy, Brett joined us at RMHS as a teacher and football coach working with our LBs and Special Teams.
Justin Schmidt is a former RMHS Spartan
who is now a high ranking
instructional official in the CCFOA
Diego Renteria is another former
Spartan who is also a key instructional
referee in the CCFOA
The reason for my being at the CCFOA Clinic was in answer to the request of clinic organizer, Brett Phillips, to give the Keynote Address to the 90+ assembled referees.
My assigned topic was
"What Makes a Good Football Official"
Brett asked me to address this topic from the perspective of a long time (45 seasons) high school football coach.
Except for the ref on the phone
to the left, the refs gave me their
attention by and large
As for what I believed to be the characteristics of a "Good Football Official," here were my bullet points:
1. Knowledge of the Rules
2. A Confident but not Arrogant Bearing
3. Integrity
4. Capacity to continue learning and growing from
all experiences both positive and negative
5. Thick Skin, up to a point
6. Ability to control the Temperature of the game
7. Using Common Sense as you keep your
Head in the Game
Feel free to fill in the blanks found between the lines.
In the evening after my talk, while Jacob was at his Camarillo Stingers practice, we assembled in Camarillo at the Music Freqs Musical Theater to attend a play.
It was a mini version of the popular
Broadway hit play Annie
Granddaughter Mary was in the play
She had two roles in the play, Pepper the mean orphan which she nailed and Annette who was a servant in the Warbucks family home.
As Pepper
If you had to mop floors all day like Pepper did, you would be mean too
As Annette on the far left
Trading a mop for much less stressful duster but still a worker.
In the chorus with Annie out front
She was AWESOME and happy
and we all had so much fun
Happy Parents
Proud Grandparents
News from the net . . .
True, what's your point?
So many immersive opportunities
The old "Rail Splitter" goes surfing?
An opportunity at the end of August
for our favorite Civil War Reenactors
to assemble again
During the league-wide bye week,
the ELF had to do something to
create interest amid their tumultuous
death watch
Reading Is FUNdamental!
The things that were happening in
England in late 1941 just before the
Pearl Harbor attack were fascinating
Jacqueline Winspear never disappoints with her thought provoking historical novels.
Here is wishing all of our blog mates have a . . .
GREAT WEEKEND!
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