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Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. · #55 (**permalink**) Wed Jan 09, 2002, 12:20am

Quote:

Originally posted by daves

Quote:

Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

Quote:

Originally posted by firedoc
Here is an opinion from someone who is both a referee and a physician (Emergency medicine):
Don't let him/her play without a written note from a physician. By definition anyone having a true seizure, whether diabetic or other, is unconscious. In the post they said that he didn't respond to the coach. That is also a definition of unconsciousness.
Remember! Always err on the side of safety.

I will bow to the good doctor's medical information concerning diabetics and unconsciousness. But in the play posted, the diabetic athlete was not a player at the time of the seizure. NFHS R3-S1-A1 defines that there a team consists of five players, one of whom is the captain. NFHS R4-S34-A1 defines players as the five team members who legally on the court at any given time. NFHS R4-S34-A3 defines when a substitue becomes a player and when a player becomes a substitute.

Therefore, NFHS R2-S8-A5 (unconscious player rule) does not apply here, and I would seriously advise not trying to invoke NFHS R2-S3 (elastic clause rule) to this case.

I share the doctor's concern about letting this child playing in the game but we has officials do not have the authority to deny him entry into the game.

I heartily disagree with your assessment of this situation. I think you are getting hung up on a semantical and legalistic interpretation of the word 'player'. If we don't have the official authority to keep a player in a situation like this from playing, we are ethically bound to do so. In the officials manual there is a code of ethics. The last 2 points in this code state, "Officials shall, while enforcing the rules of play, remain aware of the inherent risk of injury that competition poses to student-athletes. Where appropriate, they shall inform event management of conditions of situations that appear unreasonably hazardous. Officials shall take reasonable steps to educate themselves in the recognition of emergency conditions that might arise during the course of competition."

As officials, we not only enforce the rules of the game but we have ethical obligations as well. You cannot do one to the exclusion of the other.

[Edited by daves on Jan 8th, 2002 at 08:34 PM]

I agree with you on what it says in the officials manual, but the conditions that occured in the original posting is outside the officials jurisdiction. I have declared two players unconcious: once in a girls' varsity basketball game and once in a boys' varsity soccer game. Neither coach was happy, especially the soccer player's coach and parents. But we sometimes we just do not have the authority do be king for a day. We have to pick our battles and this is not one of the battles that we as officals should be fighting (I mean taking actions per the original posting).

Now trying to get the rule changed, that is another matter and I would have no trouble supporting a change in the rules to have it apply to substitutes.