Gulf Coast Football Officials Association crew works Class 2 Suburban state final
TALLAHASSEE − The Cardinal Mooney Catholic High and Venice High football teams were not the only teams at the Florida High School Athletic Association State Championships.
A crew, led by Andrew Gugliemini Jr., from the Gulf Coast Football Officials Association worked the Class 2 Suburban final between Bradford High and Cocoa High at 8 p.m. Friday night at Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium on the campus of Florida A&M University.
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The 56-year-old Gugliemini, who is in his 33rd season as an official, worked with four members of his regular crew:
∎ 72-year-old lineman Steve Osbourne (4th state game)
∎ 65-year-old back judge Larry Galassi (20-year official)
∎ 41-year-old side judge Michael Holt (8th-year official)
∎ 61-year-old alternate Joseph Ranaldi (24-year official)
Other members of the crew:
∎ 61-year-old umpire Jeff Bogumil (27-year official)
∎ 63-year-old line judge Louis Murrell Jr. (27-year official)
∎ 44-year-old field judge Michael Pierce (8-year official)
∎ 46-year-old Adam Heitl (6-year official)
∎ 55-year-old Anthony “Tony” Gallo
Dressing in the weight room at the stadium, Gugliemini donned a brand-new, long-sleeved, black-and-white striped shirt after going over pre-game and game-time assignments.
“We got over who’s responsible for what, what our pre-game duties are, what we do on the coin toss, where we lineup on kick,” Gugliemini said. “Just about everything. This is our fifth playoff game, so we’ve done this a bunch of times.”
Gugliemini then randomly picks certain instances that might occur during the game, so the crew is prepared for it.
“Last year we had an invalid fair catch: The guy caught the ball and then raises his arm, which never happens, but it happened,” Gugliemini said. “Guess what we went over?”
Before the Bradford-Cocoa state championship game, the crew discussed onside kick, blocked punt and the receiver getting bumped out and coming back inbounds and what he can and can’t do.
The crew then searched for their equipment: yellow flag, bean bag for fumbles, as they were wired to speak with each other.
Gugliemini was wired to speak over the public address system when making announcements during the game and the pregame coin toss.
Officials must purchase all their equipment and gear to work games.
“We buy all this,” Gugliemini said. “You can’t do it for money. It’s not done that way. You have to have a little love for what you do and you have to care.”
The GCFOA pays its officials at the end of the season for all the games.
“It’s a nice little check to spend on Christmas is how I do it,” Gugliemini said. “Others do it differently, but I prefer it this way. And then I can get my beautiful wife Lisa something nice for Christmas.”
Cocoa, which defeated Booker High in the state semifinal, went on to win the state title with a 20-6 win over Bradford. For the record, the crew had 15 accepted penalties: 10 against Bradford for 99 yards and five against Cocoa for 30 yards.
GCFOA past president Sean McCue, along with other members of the association, were at Cardinal Mooney's 31-27 victory over Trinity Catholic on Friday morning.
On a side note for Gugliemini, a physical education teacher and wrestling coach at Manatee High, his school was the site of the nine-team Coach Kelly Hurricane Challenge on Friday and Saturday.
Seven wins shy of 700 for his career, Gugliemini learned his Manatee squad won the first bout of the event before taking the field. He planned on being back in Bradenton on Saturday for the second day of the tournament, when the Hurricanes were scheduled to wrestle five more bouts.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Area officiating crew works Class 2 Suburban state football final
