Fingernails ...

[BillyMac]

Middle school girls game yesterday. First period. I’m about to hand the ball to a home team inbounder at which point her brightly painted fingernails catch my attention, immediately followed by me noticing that her fingernails are quite long and sharply filed into points. My partner, the umpire, did not notice these in the pregame layup lines.

Brought the head coach over and explained to him that she wouldn’t be allowed to keep playing with these unsafe fingernails. He gave me a little bit of a hard time, “She played with these in Tuesday’s game”.

Player asked if she could cut them still play, and I told that she could.

NFHS 2021-22 Safety Concerns 3-7: The referee must not permit any team member to participate if in his/her judgment any item constitutes a safety concern, such as, but not limited to, a player’s fingernails or hairstyle.

2022-23 Editorial Changes
NFHS 2022-23 Safety Concerns 3-7: The referee must not permit any team member to participate if in his/her judgment any item constitutes a safety concern.

Why was the specific reference to fingernails removed?

I always liked that the fingernail example was in the rulebook.

Made it easy to explain to a coach, player, or parent.