Quote:
Originally Posted by Blindolbat
I just think they don't want a bunch of 12-17 yr olds getting partially nude in front of 100's of strangers regardless of why they are taking off their clothes.
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I agree that is one of their intents. I think the issue started when kids would get disqualified and remove their jerseys in disgust and it expanded to be applied to all situations in order to avoid having shirtless kids running around due to modesty concerns. The interesting issue with this is that even if their only intent was to avoid having bare chested players visible, the rule still applicable to the player that removes his/her jersey but has an undershirt on beneath the jersey. The penalty is for removing the jersey not the partial nudity.
In any case, my position remains that if they don't want want jerseys removed within the visual confines of the court, make it explicitly prohibited and not imply that it is somehow inherently unsporting by placing it within rule 10-3-6. For what it's worth, I don't think the issue of tobacco use belongs under the unsporting umbrella either. I'm not supporting kids or coaches smoking or dipping during games, but as was pointed out Big Cat, these acts typically wouldn't be considered unsporting.