On a high school sports message board in Tennessee, some have been posting about a supposed "new rule" that states that a substitute may only enter if he/she is already at the table at the point the ball becomes dead. Furthermore, someone who is a timekeeper at one of the schools said that an official told him that he is NEVER to sound the horn to notify officials that subs are waiting at the table, that he will see them if he believes they should be allowed in the game, thank you very much.

I know something about all this just ain't right. I have read the substitution rules, and can't find anything to this effect, other than the rule about not beckoning a sub once the ball is about to become live or before a multiple free-throw attempt, as the case may be.

Am I missing something here? Or are there officials coming up with their own rules?

1) The rule is the same as it has always been. If the sub is at the table when the ball becomes dead and the clock is stopped, they can come in. If they aren't at the table, they can't. R3-3-1(d)

2) The rules sez that the timer has to use a sounding device or game horn to signal substitutions- again as per R3-3-1(d).

3) What ain't right is this is coming from a fanboy board, not an official's board. Did you really expect anything different? You know better than that, Wes.

Or.....it could be something recommended by the.....wait for it....SEC. :)

Some time ago, we were all checking out a supposedly referee board which was wildly inaccurate about a number of rules. Wasn't that board from someone in Tennessee? I wonder if it's the same one?

Where's this board? I feel the need to go and be disruptive there. :D

It's not an official's board, just a high school fan board. But every once in a while, people get on there and try to stir up trouble with the officials.

But W&S -- I'm reading 3-3-1d and still not getting it:

"If entry is at any time other than between quarters, and a substitute who is entitled and ready to enter reports to the scorer, the scorer shall use a sounding device or game horn, if, or as soon as, the ball is dead and the clock is stopped."

I understand that the substitute has to report to the table before he/she can be beckoned into the game. But I'm trying to find where in the rule it states that the substitute must already be at the table before the ball becomes dead in order to enter.

Example: A1 is called for his fourth foul in the third quarter. After the ball becomes dead, A's coach wants to substitute for A1 about the time the official is reporting the foul to the table. The substitute runs over to the table, checks in, and is ready to enter the game. But since the substitute was not already at the table before the foul was called and the ball became dead, can this substitute for A1 enter?

Apparently that's what some people have been calling, and I know that's just not right. Nowhere does the rule say that. But since all I have is just a rule book and no case book or official's manual, maybe I'm missing something. Just looking for clarification, and wanting to know if some officials in Tennessee are calling this incorrectly.

Let the kid in the damn game.

Now where's that other board?

iirc (increasingly rare with advancing age), either NCAA or FED had this as one of the rules proposals in the past couple of years. It didn't pass, but it might be an "experiment" in TN FED games.

The "wait" rule may have been attached to the 30-second time-out rule while the 30-second application was in it's infancy..
mick

The term ready to enter the game means at the table having done all the things that you are supposed to do, get dressed, report, those things, when the ball is dead.

The intent of the rule is to prevent the shuffling of people into the game from the bench and extending the dead ball period into a time out.

It is something we as officials do a very poor job of enforcing at all levels, we let coaches yell sub and then pick a kid who has to get undressed, run to the table report tuck in their shirt, adjust their shoes, head band, take off their jewelry and we hold the game up for them.
They were not ready to enter the game.

That is an NFHS soccer rule. The sub must have reported to BEFORE the ball goes out of play in order to enter. Otherwise the substitute must wait until the next opportunity.

I would like to see basketball adopt this rule. It would definitely speed up the game. However, it is NOT the current rule.