This may be little long; I will try to shorten it.

I was not there, a buddy official of mine was and related this incident:

At half-time of a varsity boys game while chkg at the scores table, a fan of the home team told the R that 2 of the visiting players changed jerseys while the game was going on.

In the locker room they discussed the sit. and agreed the R would ask the visiting coach if this happened; they did. His response: “No, why would they?”

They checked with the home book (scorekeeper) and asked if there were any concerns or problems with the book regarding players or their numbers. The scorekeeper responded, as far as he knew, there were not.

Second half started and played. In the locker room after, 2 newer officials came in and were asked by my friend if they saw anything (speaking generally). One volunteered that he observed the switching of the jerseys.

Questions: 1) Could/should they have done anything additional or different? Would you?

2) They discussed what rule applications might have come into play. My friend stated that if A: one of those players who switched jerseys had entered with an illegal jersey (#) once the ball became alive (without them detecting the illegal #/name) he was now legal. And B: if caught before he entered, could only enter after the assessment of a technical foul. True A and/or B?

3) Any other rule applications we are missing here?

See mdray's post below regarding the Technical foul.

As for being notified that such an event has occurred, I'm not concerned with it unless the scorer, timer, or either team notifies me. In other words, I'm not concerned with what a fan tells me, whether it's that the score is wrong or two players have changed jerseys.

[Edited by BktBallRef on Dec 11th, 2003 at 04:53 PM]

It look likes my friend was thinking of Rule 3-3-3, which does not seem to apply to this situation. Correct?

Seems to me the only reason 2 players would want to switch jerseys is if one of them has too many fouls and is doing so to gain an unfair advantage in the game. Hard to prove, but I think somehow this goes beyond just playing with an illegal number.

Good point. I'm sure there was a reason.

But it would be hard to prove anything if the kids were twins. ;)

(if discovered) If a player participates after changing his/her number without reporting it to the scorers and an official, the penalty is a flagrant technical foul 10-3-1

mdray,

Ohhh! That's right. I do recall that severe penalty for this violation--now that you've reminded us. Thank you.

I, also, thought they may have been doing it because of the number personal fouls one of them might have had. Also thought they might have discoverd they put the wrong jerseys on in the locker room prior to coming out, discoverd it while seated and chose to exchange.

I'm curios though, if others agree with BBR about ignoring totally the comments of the fan in this situation.

I definitely agree; ignore any/all comments from the fans

what if one of the officials who were observing the game had mentioned it to you, say at halftime in the locker room before you came back out for the 2nd half? (One of the 2 non-working officials--those that came in after the game.)

I would say unless you yourself have absolute knowledge, meaning you either saw them change jerseys yourself or you remember by looking at them that they had different numbers earlier in the game, you let it go. You're about to toss 2 kids out of the game, so you'd better be absolutely sure you know they did what you're about to accuse them of. The word of anyone else, even another official, should be taken with a grain of salt unless you know without a doubt that they are correct.

No argument there but you have to be able to prove that they switched 'em.

In order for the flagerant foul to be called, you must've witnessed the change. Otherwise, if they did have the wrong numbers and you didn't see them change, wouldn't it just be a team technical for altering the scorebook?

great point ref18. I've got to agree with you on this point.

If the official scorer or an official recognizes the switch, I will not need to see the exchange to throw the T.

I'm just wondering if the scorer recognizes the switch, do you hit both players up with a flagerant, or the team T for having to make the change in the scorebook to correct the numbers?

Since neither notified the scorer, they both are gone.

As others have said, I would have had to witness the change or have definite knowledge of it. Because the penalty is so severe, I want to be damn sure before I make this call.

I can't think of any legitimate reason for two players to switch jerseys after the game has started.

A legitiment reason:

A1 jersey gets saturated with blood. He must take a jersey from a bench warmer in order to continue playing. So in that situation numbers and the scorebook would have to be changed.

Yes, including the fact that there is no Technical foul for this "legal" switch.

Also including the fact that the kids should tell the table, or at least their coach.

The part about this subject that troubles me is how it could happen without the refs or table realizing it in the second half. Or coach. If it really happened, wouldn't someone think, "Wait a minute, that kid with the green hair was 21, I'm sure! How could he be 53 now?" The only reason I can think of to switch jerseys woulc be because of foul trouble, and then wouldn't he have come to the ref's attention, face plus number? I don't know, I just wonder if it really happened. Also, I can't believe the coach wouldn't know. So did he lie? Well, sure it's possible, but...

There's one other option.If they can find a shirt for A1, as per casebook play 3.3.6SitA(b), they don't have to use a sub's shirt.