Here's what a girl was wearing in a scrimmage yesterday:
F90 Premier HeadGuard - Products - Full 90 Sports
I've never seen one before so I asked the player about it. She had gotten a concussion during soccer season, had to wear the headgaurd for the soccer, and thought it would be a good idea to wear it for basketball as well. She didn't have a doctor's note, but it was the same color as her teammates headbands, I didn't think that it was a safety concern, on the contrary, I think it would be a safer game for more players to wear them, so I let her wear it, and decided to do some research when I got home.
I don't believe that we would define this as a headband, rather, I would think that it meets the NFHS definition of a guard:
3-5-2: Guards, casts, braces and compression sleeves must meet the following guidelines:
a. A guard, cast or brace made of hard and unyielding leather, plaster, pliable (soft) plastic, metal or any other hard substance may not be worn on the elbow, hand, finger/thumb, wrist or forearm; even though covered with soft padding.
b. Hard and unyielding items (guards, casts, braces, etc.) on the upper arm or shoulder must be padded.
c. Knee and ankle braces are permitted but all exposed hinges must be covered. Most over-sleeves recommended by manufacturers are acceptable. These braces may be padded or unpadded.
d. Must be worn for medical reasons.
If it meets the definition of a guard, as in 3-5-2, then I believe that it would not require a doctor's note (braces don't require such a note), nor would it fall under any "color" guidelines (braces don't fall under any "color" guidelines).
That's my interpretation of these headguards. Comments from the peanut gallery ???