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You would be surprised. They might not care that you are wearing belted pants, but you would stick out. Part of the uniform is to look like we can cut the mustard. If all the top officials look the same way and you look like a JV official, they are going to think you are just that, a JV official. You will have to work a lot harder to overcome that stigma than other officials that look like the top officials. Also remember it is usually officials that are going to make the decisions about your ability it will not be outsiders usually. If you cannot wear what is expected for you to wear, and then what do you think you are willing to do in other aspects of you game? I can tell you the same expectations are put on officials in other sports. We do not wear adjustable hats in football and baseball for the very same reason we do not wear belted pants in basketball. You stand out and it takes no commitment to buy a hat that (or pants) that you can adjust. It takes a lot of commitment to get your pants fitted or to make sure you fit your head with the right hat size. I do not ever expect you or others to agree with my opinion, but it is not my opinion you have to worry about. I had to cut off most of my facial hair because no one else at the high levels was wearing a goatee like I was. I was even told to cut it off. So if I wanted to continue to work a certain level of games I had to do just that, cut off all that facial hair. Life is full of choices, do what you feel works for you. Just do not be surprised if you get passed up and this one issue might be a bigger factor than you will ever realize. It is usually the little things that advance people and the little things that hold them back. Just like in any job, if your resume is not together you will never get an interview. Your uniform is part of your resume.
I agree with what you are saying to a point. I have friends who ref D-1, who say that its professional to have patent leather shoes and pleated pants. My association bans both. So if I decide to wear them anyway I will not contiune to get Varsity games. It's a shame we are at the mercy of our assigners. Even if they are wrong on a issue they are right because they control what games we get. Good officals get blackballed all the time for taking a stance on a issue. It is not right but it happens.
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