Football Officials Association
The SGVFOA was well represented in last night’s CIF-SS Division 8 final between Beckman and Brea Olinda. The crew, from left to right, was: Kenny James (U), Drew Benton (S), Christian Holloway (F), JT Thomas (R), Jeremy Hamlett (H), Juan Puentes (L), and Jose Gaxiola (B).
The officials for the 2025 Turkey Tussle were, from left to right: Michael Moore (LJ), Drew Benton (BJ), Christian Holloway (FJ), JT Thomas (R), Kenny James (U), Aaron Thomas (HL), and Kenny James, Jr. (SJ).
The 2025 playoffs list is now available. Congratulations to all who made the list! Please remember that making the list is an honor and not a guarantee of getting a playoff game.
Congratulations to our 2025 award recipients! Kai Nakamura and Jonathan Ng both earned the Ernie Dominguez Rookie of the Year Award. Brian Johnson earned the Most Improved Award. Tommy Huitron was posthumously awarded the Joe Conte, Sr. Award .
Congratulations to Reggie Robles and Bill Sullivan, who will be joining the SGVFOA Board of Directors as Members-at-Large. Also congratulations to James Thomas and Darren Winkley, who will continue to serve as Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer, respectively.
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) made the decision to launch a new statewide registration and eligibility process for all high school sports officials in all sports. For the 2025-2026 season, the registration will be voluntary. However, it will be mandatory at the start of the 2026-2027 season. All officials will be required to register through CIF Central HUB via ArbiterSports. The cost for registering is $29, and it includes insurance and a background check. It should also save the unit quite a bit of money on its insurance, which, in return, could possibly result in a reduction of dues!
If you would like to learn more about the program, please go to https://sgvfoa.com/cif-officials-association.
This year, the new CIF jersey will be required for all varsity contests. You can still use your old jerseys for lower level games, and it is okay if not everyone on the crew has the same shirt. Please do not wear the new shirts for Pop Warner or Jr. All-American games; they are only for CIF contests.
When purchasing a uniform shirt, please make sure it looks like the photo There are other shirts out there that are supposedly “CIF Approved”, but they are not the correct ones for us. You can find the shirts at Purchase Officials Supplies and at U.S. Official’s Supplies.
The 2025 CFOA Study Guide is now available on the Central Hub on Arbiter. It will remain open until July 30th.
The 2024-2026 CFOA Mechanics book and a Powerpoint highlighting changes has also been added to our website on the Mechanics page.
Congratulations are in order for Kenny James, Jr. Kenny attended the Tait-Consul-Griffith in Cedar City, Utah, this week. His outstanding performance there resulted in him being hired to work NCAA Division III football as an umpire in the SCIAC! We wish him the best of luck!
There will be a memorial service for Mark on Saturday, July 19, 2025, 4:00 PM, at The Chapel, 61 N. Hill Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106. The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to https://gofund.me/9cc48017.
The San Gabriel Valley Football Officials Association is saddened by the passing of two former members. Mark Hamilton (left) fell from a ladder and suffered a neck injury, resulting in his death on June 17. Robert Plancich (right) evidently passed away in his sleep last month. Both Mark and Robert were long-time football officials and softball umpires and will be missed.