Is it legal for a player to play with his pockets hanging out? Worked a couple of games tonight where a player had his pockets turned inside out and hanging out to the sides. Can't think of any reason why it should be illegal, but I'm wondering what y'all think. Or if there's some weird interp in the case book that I havne't stumbled onto.

I'd have to say no and I'd use the following to back it up:

RULE 3
SECTION 4 UNIFORMS
ART. 15 . . . A team jersey designed to be worn inside the pants/skirt shall be tucked inside the pants/skirt and the pants/skirt shall be above the hips and worn properly. A player not conforming to this uniform policy shall be directed to leave the game.


SECTION 5 TEAM MEMBER'S EQUIPMENT, APPAREL
The referee shall not permit any team member to wear equipment or apparel which, in his/her judgment, is dangerous or confusing to other players or is not appropriate. Examples of illegal items include, but are not limited to:
ART. 3 . . . Equipment which is unnatural and designed to increase a player's height or reach or to gain an advantage. Equipment shall not be modified from its' original manufactured state and shall be worn in the manner the manufacturer intended it to be worn.


IMO the inside-out pockets are not being worn properly. I'd direct the player to leave the game.

Wouldn't you just tell him to tuck them back in?

The teams I officiate don't have uniforms with pockets. :)

Was he doing it on purpose or was he just a slob?
Either way, "hey buddy, tuck your pockets in".

Why would you even do that?

Never said I would. :)

Are you sure that this is not the way the manufacturer wants these pockets to be worn? :D You gotta remember, in certain areas (as we have been told here many times) things ain't the way YOU and I would think they were. :)

I have never seen a regular season game and the team had pockets. Maybe I am just missing out. ;)

Peace

Yea, I'm not sure how many have them during the season. It just struck me as a question to ask, in case I ever need to know.

Back in the days of 7th and 8th grade basketball the shorts I had to wear for uniforms were from the 80's. Our couch allowed us to wear personal shorts, as long as they were all exactly the same. Black, Nike, white swoosh, pretty common shorts. I do remember at least one guy had pockets, so it does happen, just not too often.

Pockets turned out is a new "fashion" statement that is becoming popular with today's youth. IMO they should be told to tuck it in!

Did the dining room chairs or the recliners in the den have any restrictions for ya, since the couch was pretty darn liberal? :D

Haha nice. The couch was real picky who used it, but the rest of the furniture just liked to be sat on.

:D

IMO having pockets could be a hazard, something like jewelry where fingers or hands can get caught on them. In the league I am involved in no pockets are allowed. For the youth ages 12 and under we will allow them to be taped shut, older players do not play.

LOLOLOL, I just got a vision of some kid wearing some cut-off jeans or a pair of cargo shorts with half a roll of duct tape on them. Or better yet, if it's a men's league and the guy still has his wallet in his pocket.

Yea my post does kinda read that way, haha. I was refering more to the sport shorts that have pockets sewn into them.

To be brutally honest, I don't think anyone will ever get hurt by a pocket. That being said, isn't there a better chance of someone catching a finger in a pocket that ISN'T turned inside out, realistically? Getting a finger caught?

You know, statistically, I think a lot of the so-called safety rules are a little extreme. But it only takes one lawsuit, and then as my commissioner says, "Now we've got different arrangements."

A year or two ago, a player here at U of Oregon got his finger caught in a jersey and had a lot of damage. At first they thought a string had sliced into his finger, but then they realized that his finger had gotten trapped, and had bent back, breaking the skin and some muscle tissue underneath. He had 10 stitches around the base of his finger, and had to miss three games, and played with pain and bandages for several weeks. So I guess you never know what could happen.

(Here's a funny aside about that U of O player's situation. The weekend after it happened, I was doing a bunch of rec games with middle school kids. Before every game, I'd say, "Be sure to tuck your jersey in. Did you hear what happened to Luke Jackson? He got his finger caught in a hem and had to have 10 stitches. He missed three games." The girls ALL said, "10 stitches!?!" and the boys ALL said, "Three games?!?!" No exceptions.)