Required equipment question

[nine01c]

Chuck: It was my understanding when we got the new mouthguard rule, that if one fell out during play, you wait until the next dead ball to allow the player to pick it up (if he hasn't already done so). Kind of like a shoe lace, you don't stop play. If he enters court with no mouthguard in place, the rereree will direct him to the bench for a sub, and he can re-enter at the next whistle (like if a kid has jewlery on).

I agree that in your situation, it was an unsporting foul if you saw he deliberately kicked the mouthguard OOB just as the player was attempting to pick it up. If that was not the case, and he was just kicking it OOB to get it out of the way (like whan a hair elastic of a piece of candy is on the floor) then I would think that was not unsporting.

The games are much quieter with mouthguards, but I think more salava gets spread around. Personally, I don't like the requirement (but the quiet is nice).