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Originally Posted by Kevzebra
Well, I have to tell you, it is our responsibility to ensure that all of the players conform. I am sure that the coaches try to make this possible, but you know kids. I have P***** off many a parent by not letting little Sally wear an illegal brace that the "doctor" said was legal. I was the only referee during the time she had that brace that made her take it off (it WAS illegal by the way; hard plastic and a very sharp edge)
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The reason we ask the question to the coaches about their players being properly equip, is to let us know if any of their players have issues that would be considered illegal. Then we can hold the coaches responsible for putting kids onto the floor that are not wearing legal equipment. Remember, we only see the kids for a short time. The coaches see the kids every day and see what they wear in practice. Even in warm-ups, we may not see the player's entire uniform to know what they are wearing is legal or illegal. It is not like players actually play the game in warm-ups.
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Originally Posted by Kevzebra
I even had one player that consistently disregarded the coaches instructions as to a hair beret behind her ponytail. I always looked (and you had to to see it) and I always had to tell her to take it off.
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Well you have the right to pull a kid off the court when you notice something like that. I can tell you that beads can be hard to see when the beads that players put in there hair match the hair color of the player. I have gone several minutes during games, only to finally get up close to a player during the game to see something that was not easily visible during warm-ups. The coach is in the locker-room with that kid, we see them only during warm-ups. Something like a string might not even be something we can see. And if we see it, I am not going to go through a lot of histrionics to test the elasticity of this item.
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Originally Posted by Kevzebra
Legally, if we have done all we can (and can prove it, one of those nasty legal terms), then we can be held harmless.
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This is no different than a sexual harassment case. A business is not liable if they were never informed or never witnessed issues of sexual harassment it is hard to hold that business or the people involved liable without proper information being given to the proper people. As I said, I am not a lawyer and I am not aware of the case you are talking about or the issues that the court had to deal with (which might not be exactly about the rubber bands). I know that you have to be considered negligent before you can lose a case like this. I know black rubber bands are very hard to see on kids that have black hair. And rubber bands are legal. So I do not know how an official always knows of potential issues like this unless we go and inspect every kid with our hands to figure out what is elastic and what is not.
Peace