Illegal number - how to handle?
 

Twelve minutes before the game starts, the R checks the books and notices that the home book has the rosters of both teams correctly entered. In looking at the numbers however, one player of team A is designated as #6. Some of you have mentioned that officials are not coaches and some of advocated preventative officiating. Given that....

1) Do you inform the Team A coach so that the illegal number can be corrected before the 10 minute mark?

2) If the Team A coach is notified, how do you handle the change when the correction is not done before the 10 minute mark?

3) How would handle it if the book was checked at the 5 minute mark and you noticed the illegal number? Tell the coach? Ignore and address it is the player enters the game? Other?

I always have the coach review what was submitted and what is in the book. If they have an issue, I let it be changed. Then, if it is correct, they give their initials, saying that everything is correct. So if there is a wrong number, I might tell him that it is there, and let them decide if this was a mistake on someone's part. Really, it's not illegal until they come into the game anyway.

Peace

This may be a check your local listings situation in terms of handling it correctly. Assuming this was a high school game, I'd use the directives given in our association meetings:

• I'd inform the coach #6 is an illegal number.
• I'd ask the coach if there was a legal uniform available or tape available to temporarily change the front and back numbers to something legal.
• If either change was possible, I'd allow it to be done immediately without penalty and be sure the scorer(s) received notification of the change as required by rule.
• If neither change was possible, I'd remind the coach that being assessed a single direct technical foul is the penalty for players participating with illegal uniforms. I believe I'd also be required to submit an online report to the state association about the player participating with an illegal uniform.

I've only had this come up once when a team's new uniforms didn't arrive before the season started and they used taped-up numbers on their practice jerseys as they waited out the supply chain issues. Upon seeing #17 in warm-ups and the scorebook, I informed the coach #17 was illegal, but he could have the top part removed off the 7 which would give the player #11 - a legal number - instead. He chose that option, we made sure the scorers knew #17 was now #11, and the coach appreciated us being preventative.

Can we consider that this was incorrectly put in the book?

Peace