I've done the same thing. Stickers are not part of the uniform, and therefore I don't allow them to be worn in any game I do.

These are two things that I don't see any sense in,

Boys game:

Finger gloves, they're illegal (in basketball) and expensive, why would anyone want to waste their money on them if they can't wear them to play.

Girls game:

Those velcro ties they make to tie up the shoulders of the shirt. Another illegal item, because it's a safety concern.

I find it amazing that at the end of the season people are still wearing these items, and that tells me that the equipment rules are not being enforced, this is something that we need to be consistant on.

Well I've seen the velcrow ties and I didnt make them take it off I didnt see how it could endanger another player.(???)

easy, the velcro is loose enough for another player to get her finger caught in it.

Also, even velcro can come unfastened and fall off. THese things are legal in volleyball. The part I don't understand is why manufacturers don't make sleeveless T-shirts, so girls wouldn't need these velcro thing-ys.

The rule doesn't say no shirts. I have a game, team has red jerseys, one kid has white undershirt, the coach tells me he has to wear an undershirt. Fine. Find a red one. If you may want to wear a shirt under your uniform, get t-shirts that match the uniforms. Simple.

As far as the color of the undershirts go, the rule about the color is not new.

I forgot all about the way girls like to have the shoulders of their shirts. Why is that?
Also, can anyone clue me in as to why girls have their feet close together with one foot up on a toe when they are about to rebound a free throw?

I think their thought is that the closer they can get their toe/foot to the line, the quicker they can step to box out. Reality is; they're off balance and can't step out with as much power. And they could only learn that from watching another player do it. Surely, nobody is coaching that.

They're teenagers and know more about rebounding than the boys team, the coaches, college players and NBA players. If you don't think they know more then you, then you should ask them. They'll tell you, or they'll roll their eyes, and that's sign language for "I'm smarter then you"

I don't know about this. A lot of things "can" happen.

Anything can happen, and I'm not risking the safety of a player, or a law-suit against me because someone wants to wear a potentially dangerous uniform item.

Please forgive me for my naivity, but are we really at a potential risk for a law suit or does that fall to the school or gym?

How big is this risk?
Could the kid who's not in correct uniform get sued?
What protection, besides enforcing the rules do we have?

Nobody in the history of the planet has been hurt by the velcro tabs girls use to hold their sleeves up, so they can't be a safety issue. BTW in our CYO league they are allowed.

What's wrong with being sloppy? The question I really have is why does the NF care about these things, except when they are safety issues? I suspect that NF thinks it's somehow a sportsmanship issue, that players who want to reflect their individuality are trying to intimidate or visually trash talk others.

The reason I bring these things up is I have seen games where refs have been by-the-book about these things and where they have been lax, but I failed to notice any difference in the quality of play or the amount of sportsmanship or the safety of the players. So while I'm telling kids over and over to tie their shoes or tuck in their shirt for the 1000th time in a season, I get to wondering what's the point. The shirt will be out again in a moment, so why am I wasting my breath? How does this affect the game?

Sorry for venting. Maybe this kind of thing is more important in HS or college levels than it is in youth basketball, but I just don't get it.

If you can get past the bickering, there are a couple of very good posts that include legal references. Check it out:

http://www.officialforum.com/thread/6712

Jimgolf,

We enforce this because it is in the rule book.
I have played and I know for a fact that if the shirt is a reasonable length the shirt will not come right back out.
This isn't so much of an issue in college. Do you think that the college uniforms have some kind of magical "stay in" dust on them?
It also doesn't happen in the NBA. I don't think anyone plays more physical than them.

If this problem happened at every level with every kind of uniform then this would be OK. But, it doesn't so we know it is a lack of effort.

Having said all of that, if they take it out of the book I wouldn't enforce it.

One thing that should be remembered is that most rule changes are instituted as the result of a problem. That problem may be found only in a specific locale but may be of enough import to warrant a rule to prevent the possibility of it spreading.

Uniform requirements may be one of them...maybe a gang problem. I don't really know but rules get made that way.

Regarding the velcro things...I think the arm holes in the shirts are far more dangerous. We should require that the uniforms have no arm holes....perhaps they'll look like the armless and legless knight in Monty Python.

[Edited by Camron Rust on Aug 13th, 2004 at 07:06 PM]

Who would?!?!?