Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ...
 

3-5-4-B: Headband ... must be a circular design without extensions.

https://sp.yimg.com/xj/th?id=OIP.M00...=0&w=300&h=300

https://sp.yimg.com/xj/th?id=OIP.M41...=0&w=300&h=300

Watched TV highlights tonight, one of our veteran crews allowed one white tight, another kid wearing a black tight. Its disappointing because we have many other officials who are emulating their behavior.

Went to a big local rivalry game the other day, crew let illegal undershirts go. Sucks that I have the team later this season and will have to fix their mistake. And I look like the bad guy.

I had a BV tournament DH tonight involving 3 private schools and 1 public school.

I had the public school the previous night and they corrected a mismatched headband on their own before we had to say anything. Two of the private schools tonight had no equipment issues. The 3rd private school, a home school organization, had mismatched tights and headbands, and an illegal t-shirt. We informed them of each of the infractions and they took care of them. Didn't feel like the bad guy and we didn't get any flack.

There is a private school up in Richmond that holds a pretty history Christmas tournament every year. The first year I worked it the host AD told us not to worry if the teams have any violations concerning the colors of headbands, tights, etc.

I Feel Your Pain ...
 

I can almost understand some confusion regarding headbands, wristbands, sleeves, and tights, with multiple color options legal for that team that night (solid color black, white, beige, or the predominant color of the jersey). And, of course, I myself am really confused about compression shorts color options (what's a uniform?). Rules regarding these equipment colors have changed a lot over the past few years (in response to changing fashion issues (see Allan Iverson sleeves)), making it difficult for some officials to get a handle on the rules, especially when they really don't want to enforce the rules to begin with because it doesn't involve "the game".

But the undershirt color rule (The Patrick Ewing Rule) has been around, unchanged, for several years. Undershirts must be similar in color to the uniform jersey. Period. And since all team members have the same color jersey on that night, we don't have to worry about the mandate regarding the same color for each item, and all participants (it's already taken care of). With undershirts it's never about same color for each item, and all participants. It's because the undershirts are the wrong (illegal) color. The only legal color undershirt for the home team will always be white. Always. No other options. Period. And the only legal color undershirt for the visiting team will always be the color of their uniform jersey that night (in the case of multiple color road jerseys (see NBA)). Always. No other options. Period.

The only possible problem with enforcing the undershirt rule would involve teams wearing warm up apparel that would hide the undershirt color until the players remove the apparel for the start of the game, or to come off the bench as a substitute. But that's easy to deal with (except maybe to have the player remove the undershirt away for the vicinity of the bench, but that's for another thread).

And for those who believe that the undershirt color has nothing to do with "the game"; I've worked many multiple team, intersquad, preseason scrimmages over the years where the players wear reversible scrimmage vests and we've decided not to enforce the undershirt color rule. When you've got a bunch of players all trying to get a rebound, some wearing a white jersey over a white undershirt, some wearing a white jersey over a blue undershirt, some wearing a blue jersey over a white undershirt, and some wearing a blue jersey over a blue undershirt, it makes the official's job a little easier if they're all wearing legal color undershirts.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Now, could somebody please help me get down from this soapbox? It's kind of high up here, and I'm getting a little dizzy.

Who's The Grand Poobah ???
 

The athletic director. Not your local, or state interpreter (clinician)? Not your assignment commissioner? Not the state high school interscholastic sports governing body (I realize that the tournament host is a private school)?

BadNewsRef: How did you respond to the athletic director (assuming you were the referee)? And I realize that tournament host being a private school could make this a difficult decision.

I wasn't the R, but I believe we were all like "ok, if that's what he wants". They are not regulated by the VHSL (our HS state governing board). He's signing the checks to our association.

And this conversation occurred AFTER we had went to a couple of players to rectify violations; neither of the teams were the host school. A coach is the one who told us the AD said not to worry about it. The AD then came to us and affirmed what the coach told us.

Who Am I To Judge (Pope Francis, July 29, 2013) ???
 

Wasn't a problem for us. Gave it no second thought after the AD cleared it.

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So you are saying that you sold out, kept your mouth shut, and took the $.
That is a position that some will agree with while others will frown upon, but you need to do what is best for you.

As I stated, that school and the participants were not subject to NFHS or VHSL authority. You know, like that made for TV high school you see on ESPNU. There are no repercussions if they decide to set aside some equipment rules.

Whose Basketball Is It ???
 

I get it, but I would have still preferred to get an advance heads up from my local, or state interpreter (clinician), or my assignment commissioner. Even without the advance notice, I would have still done the same as BadNewsRef, maybe with an email to my assignment commissioner after the game detailing the odd rule base that we were asked to play under.

Why? What's the point?

I watched my kid play a bunch of youth games with made up rules this weekend. If the game isn't under the jurisdiction of the HS governing body and there's no safety factors involved, who cares?

He's A Hands On Kind Of Guy ...
 

Because my assignment commissioner wants to know about anything "odd" at the site. No coaching box marked. No black and white jersey for scorer. No head coach at coaches/captains pregame conference. Official wearing wrong board jacket. Ejections, and flagrant fouls (obviously). No showers available. No hot water in showers. No secure changing area.

Prep school games, assigned by our assignment commissioner, are not under the jurisdiction of the Connecticut high school governing body, but he wants us to file an Ejection Report with him even though no state, league, or conference body wants one reported.

I'm pretty sure that he would also want to know if there was any departure from the "usual" rules.

When in Rome...but I'm thrilled I don't work for one assigner.