Headwear for religous reasons

[BigCat]

Originally Posted by crosscountry55

Case in point. Had boys games on Tuesday in which the visiting school was a Jewish academy. Like the Northwestern player who made headlines last year, they all adorned yarmulkes. Very obviously for religious reasons, so no issue whatsoever. In two whole games, only one player had his yarmulke slip off one time. After a rebound, I blew it dead, he put it back on, and off we went. No big deal.

I did, however, make a bunch of starters go to the locker room to remove their unauthorized t-shirts, which I didn't get to observe until right before the game when their warmup shirts came off. Coach had my back because he had told them and they didn't listen.

Anyway, so here's a question. We had to start the game with some non-designated starters because some of the starters were "unavailable" while in the locker room removing their t-shirts. The coach didn't choose to change a designated starter.....I told him that some of his starters couldn't play until they were legally equipped. So I didn't penalize. Correct action or not?

3-2-2a. A starter with illegal equipment/apparel can be changed without penalty.

[crosscountry55]

Originally Posted by BigCat

3-2-2a. A starter with illegal equipment/apparel can be changed without penalty.

Sweet! I was pretty sure I didn't kick the rule, but not 100%.

See, to all newer officials out there who read this thread, this is why you read through the rule book at least once per year, if not more often. You may not always have your book available to consult, and you may not always have sections and articles memorized verbatim, but that little voice in your head will usually lead you to the right answer because you've comprehended it before.