Uniform police

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by loners4me

In my neck of the woods kids cannot roll their pants to make them fit better. Now I deal with pants sagging, tape around the waste and even belts like we use....the soft ones to keep our shirts tucked. Its a mess to officiate. Some schools work with shoestring budgets,old uniforms, no elastic left.....not kids fault.


Anybody else deal with this? Whats the rationalle?

Originally Posted by SC Official

Our memo from Columbia's powers-that-be yesterday...

Please remind coaches in your pre-game conference that player waistbands should not be folded over with the logo showing and drawstrings exposed. This is a federation rule violation as well as a safety issue.
Waistbands may be folded inside since they do not violate the rule and pose no safety risk.
Coaches were made aware again after the New Year then their A.D.'s that undershirts must be similar in color to the torso of the jersey. All teams should be in compliance with this rule change.

Years and years ago (late 1990s, Tony can confirm the time frame) when the NFHS and NCAA Men's/Women's Committees adopted "tucked in jersey" rule, "blousing" the jersey was a big problem, especially with female players at high school level. Jerseys that are "bloused" do NOT stay tucked into the shorts. Dick Knox, of the North CarolinaHSAA, was the Chairman of the NFHS Rules Committee. He issued a directive to North Carolina officials that "blousing" was illegal per rule. Tony can confirm this and I was of the opinion, and I still am, that Dick's directive was a correct interpretation of the rule. It should be noted that Mary Struckhoff was the NFHS Rules Editor at time.

I applied Dick's interpretation in my OhioHSAA and MichiganHSAA games. I had officials from both Ohio and Michigan tell me that we could not appy Dick's directive because he was from North Carolina. I told them that when the Chairman of the Rules Committee speaks one should treat his statement like E.F. Hutton (except when he and the Rules Editor are wrong, as Tony and I well know).

That said, I know of no NFHS ruling that prohibits the rolling of the waist band or prohibits draw string from dangling outside of the shorts.

MTD, Sr.