California Football Officials Association - Los Angeles

10/29/2022

Thanks to the Los Angeles Times for covering the incredible, inspiring moment of our five (amongst others) history-writing Black female officials.

Kim Bly, LaQuica Hawkins, Crystal Nichols, Zina Jones and Connie Wells became the first all-female officiating crew for a City Section football game on Friday.

10/29/2022

Huge congratulations to our historic crew composed entirely of Black women officiating a high school football game in California. Crystal, LaQuica, Kim, Zina and Connie made us so proud and did a great job. Yes, women belong in football and we at the Los Angeles Football Officials Association are here to welcome everyone! Huge thanks to the Los Angeles Rams, City of Huntington Park, NBC4, Los Angeles Times and so many others who supported this inspiring moment for officials!

10/27/2022

The LAFOA is proud to announce the first-ever Los Angeles high school all-women football crew, which we believe is also the first-ever crew in California to be composed of all Black women. Congratulations to these women!

LOS ANGELES - This week the Los Angeles Football Officials Association Board of Directors announced it will for the first time utilize an all-female crew for a Los Angeles City Section varsity football game. The crew – composed of five Black women – represents years of football-officiating experience: Referee Crystal Nichols, umpire LaQuica Hawkins, lineswoman Kim Bly, line judge Zina Jones and back judge Connie Wells.

The football game is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m. as Marquez High School hosts Maywood CES, at 6331 Cottage Street in Huntington Park. The Honorable Mayor of Huntington Park, Eduardo Martinez, will be on hand to give commendations to the women.

The game assignment is believed to be the first-ever in California high school history football featuring five Black women, and one of the first of its kind in the country.

“I am blessed and thankful to the Board for putting this crew together,” said Nichols, a long-time officiating veteran. “All these women are trailblazing in their own leadership capacities, in sports and their professional careers.”

All of the game officials are mindful of October being Cancer Awareness month.

“The women in my family have had an effect on me in promoting early detection of cancer,” said Bly, a sports official for 10 years who has officiated state basketball tournaments.

The Association said it hopes the historic game assignment will send a powerful message of inclusion to women across Southern California who may have an interest in football officiating.

“I am glad to see officials more than ever are being appreciated everywhere,” said Association President Brandon Sampson. “Fees for officials, and interest in sports, have both increased. The opportunities for women officials are here. This moment is theirs.”

04/27/2022

Calling everyone interested in officiating high school football in Los Angeles this fall! It is time to register. It's only $60 for the season for new officials; If you're returning, it's $90 until May 1. So be sure to pay your registration fee ASAP before it goes up!

Check out the registration information below, and reach out to us with any questions. We'd love to have you join us!

The registration process has begun for the 2022 season. Take your time and read through all of the registration-related information. Keep in mind that on May 1 membership dues increase from $90 to $110.

Complete the registration process by the steps listed below:

1) Pay your membership dues. The membership-fee structure for this season is:

Returning members have until April 30 = $90
Returning members May 1 to the first meeting = $110
Returning members after the first meeting = $150
First-year officials (never worked before) = $60
Transfer members = $110

HOW TO PAY

We are moving to an all-electronic payment system for 2022. There are four ways to pay:

ZELLE
Send Zelle payments to: [email protected]

PAYPAL
Go to this link and "send" payment: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/cfoala

VENMO
Username: cfoala If asked to input a name, type "California"

CASHAPP
Username: $CFOALA

If you have extenuating circumstances and absolutely have to send in a check in some form, or drop off payment, please message unit treasurer Cyd Zeigler at [email protected] for information.

2) Log into cfoa-la.org and complete the registration form. ALL returning and new members must fill out the online application form.

3) Complete both the Independent Contractors Agreement, and Code of Conduct. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste the url listed below into the address bar (it works better for some on their cell phone).

Independent Contractor Agreement: https://forms.gle/ufd3TZuH83c2fAKu9

Code of Conduct: https://forms.gle/iZTzh6RZB9GXLmHNA

If you have any other questions you can contact [email protected] or any board member.

Go to paypal.me/cfoala and type in the amount. Since it’s PayPal, it's easy and secure. Don’t have a PayPal account? No worries.

04/09/2021

LA City high school football is finally back tonight!

Officials, don't forget to pack:

Down counter, 2 whistles, 2 flags, 2 bean bags, game card, pencil and a watch. And if you're the H, two clips.

Have a great game tonight!

12/22/2019

Congratulations to these officials from the LA Unit who have been assigned NCAA post-season and bowl games:

Charles Glover, SCIAC - NCAA DIII 2nd round
Michael Marsh, Pac-12 - Armed Forces Bowl
Quentin Givens, Big 12 - Independence Bowl
Darren Deckard, Big 12 - Independence Bowl (alt)

The LA Unit is proud of all of these officials, who have risen to the top of the NCAA officiating ranks.

10/25/2019

Officials please check Arbiter for game status of Friday's games. And referees - please reach out to game administrators ASAP. Everyone please be safe!

“All schools in the San Fernando Valley will be closed on Friday, Oct. 25, due to air-quality and safety concerns from the fires. Community, Roscomare, Topanga, Valley View, Wonderland and Elementary ES will also be closed. Check here for updates.”

07/19/2019

We had 40 people in our class of first- and second-year officials this week. Amazing turnout and continued interest in what we're doing with football officiating in Los Angeles!

You can still join us for this season. Visit our website for info: www.cfoa-la.com

Or come to our meeting July 31, 6:30pm, at St. Bernard High School. We'll teach you how to be an offical.

07/06/2019

Our first meeting of the year will be this Wednesday, July 10, 6:30pm at St. Bernard High School, 9100 Falmouth Ave, Playa Del Rey, CA 90293. We hope to see you there, whether you are a new official who has never worked a game or a 20-year veteran!

06/25/2019

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we need to cancel our general meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 26. Our first unit meeting will now be July 10. Please let other officials know.

In the meantime, please do be sure to register and pay your registration fee. Information on that can be found on the unit website: http://www.cfoa-la.com

In the meantime, we hope everyone has a wonderful Independence Day. After the holiday, football gets into full swing!

06/16/2019

If you're looking to become a better official and learn from some of the best in Southern California, Camp Oxy has three dates this summer: July 13, and Aug. 10 & 24. Head over to their website to see where they are and how you can join.