Illegal uniform number

[WhistlesAndStripes]

Originally Posted by Adam

Exactly. Compare it to illegal undershirts and jewelry. No penalty, they just aren't allowed to play.

Exactly.

I was observing a game yesterday and about 2-3 minutes into the game, the trail official blows his whistle and assesses a technical foul against the player dribbling the ball for wearing one of those plastic bracelets. The coach protested, and the calling official gave him the stop sign, and said it was a technical foul. FTs were shot, and play continued.

I was in the halftime discussion, and the calling official talked about how standing up to the coach in that discussion made for a better half as the coach, who can be a bit boisterous at times, and had been in the previous day's game, spent the half coaching his kids and not worrying about the officials' calls. When the calling official turned to me and asked my opinion, I asked, "But what if the coach was right?" The official said, "But he's not right, you can't play with jewelry, and it's a technical foul if you do." I explained that his statement was half right, but that if you discover a player wearing jewelry or any illegal jewelry, armbands, sleeves, etc., you simply direct them to leave the game and they can't return until it is fixed. He then stated that the coach is responsible for not allowing a player with an illegal uniform to play. So before I explained the difference between illegal uniforms(Rule 3-4, which is specifically cited in Rule 10-5) and illegal equipment and apparel(Rule 3-5), I asked him who he assessed the technical foul against. He stated that he had called it against the PLAYER. I then pointed out if it's a uniform violation the T should be on the COACH, not the PLAYER.