Football fans everywhere are familiar with the face and voice of Mike Pereira, the FOX Sports football rules analyst. Each week, Pereira explains the reasoning behind key calls and controversial rulings made during games. At 73, the former vice president of National Football League (NFL) officiating is still a fixture of Sunday television but also devotes time to an organization he considers a big part of his legacy: Battlefields to Ballfields.
BATTLEFIELDS2BALLFIELDS ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TRAINING GROUP ‘CAMP OXY’
April 27, 2018
SACRAMENTO, CA – Mike Pereira, CEO/President of ‘Battlefields2Ballfields’ today announced a partnership with renowned ‘Camp Oxy’ a Southern California-based officials training group.
‘Camp Oxy’ [campoxy.com] is run by Nardy Samuels, a retired 27-year Pac-12 football official, along with Mickey Edwards. The group’s mission, Samuels says, “is to train and maintain local high school officials, and help them achieve their ultimate goals of officiating at the highest levels.”
Fully authorized by the California Interscholastic Federation, ‘Camp Oxy’ officials work in both the many passing leagues found throughout the Southland, in addition to tackle football venues.
“I have had the chance to observe Nardy’s and Mickey’s work for quite a while now,” Pereira says. “They have done great things with young officials, and this is the perfect venue for our ‘Battlefields2Ballfields’ veterans to get their early training.”
‘Camp Oxy’ began at East Los Angeles College. It features a three-students-to-one-instructor ratio “which is important to us, so there’s no standing around,” Samuels says. The instructors come from the Southern California officials ranks.
Samuels witnessed first-hand the progress of Hector Tarango, who was one of the first to apply for B2B assistance as he transitioned from military duty to civilian life.
“Hector was great. Like a lot of our guys, they come to us with no [officiating] experience at all. Their first time is with us. You could see the difference in Hector from the beginning and he was vastly improved at the end,” Samuels continued. ‘It’s all about getting them onto the field and watching it grow from there.”
For complete information on ‘Camp Oxy’, including registration guidelines, go to the company website, www.campoxy.com.
Sports Rush : Good Calls – Talking with Mike Pereira of Fox Sports
Fort Worth Weekly by Rush Olson
One of the best calls Mike Pereira ever made : starting a charitable initiative that both helps veterans and meets a need within the officiating profession.
Fox Sports NFL announcers bring in Pereira when there’s a question about a penalty. He delivered the keynote address at the recent OfficiateTexas Day in San Antonio...
Fox Sports feature on Battlefields to Ballfields
'Battlefields to Ballfields' gives military veterans an opportunity to get integrated back into their community through officiating.
Mike Pereira brings us the story of the foundation's first recipient to officiate a football game.
1st Scholarship Recipient
A Win-Win — for returning veterans and for officiating
The plan is to get veterans involved in officiating and for those who qualify for a B2B scholarship, the foundation will pay for their National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) membership, their uniform, the equipment and their dues for the local association. The foundation will also have an officiating mentor assigned to each veteran and will guide them through the process.