Greetings:

First game(s) after the break tonight for me, girls/boys Varsity DH.

The visiting team is from a neighboring state (IL). What do you do, if anything, if there are rules differences between the states?

I can't think of anything different (example: use of coaching box size (or even different size?)) between MO/IL but if there were, how would it be handled? My guess is go with the home team.

Is that correct?

Mo allows kids to play 5Q per night. Ill allows 80 (I think) quarters per season. This came up in a JV/V double header last year. I don't think you'll have a prob with this tonight though.

That principle will usually serve you well, but the fail-safe principle (possibly invoked in a tournament situation) is to go with the home location; i.e. if an Atlanta high school plays a St. Louis high school in Tallahassee, go with Florida's rules. In your case, your instincts were correct.

Location of the game is all that matters. There are several Oregon schools that player Washington schools. For girls, Washington uses a shot clock and (I believe) no 10 seocnd backcourt count. When they play in Oregon, there is no shot clock and the backccourt count is on.

As far as eligibility, that is not our concern. If the coach puts the kid in the game, they play. It is up to the teams to take up eligibility issues with the state(s).

We have several border schools tht play each other. I have a game later this month with a NH team visiting the VT team. The VT rules are enforced.

Thanks for the replies. Everything went without a hitch. My question was more curiosity than anything, didn't think it would be an issue, and it wasn't. Thanks.

None of that means a thing to an official.

Having been in this situation many, many times in Illinois, the only thing I would do is talk about things like the coaching box or any unusual rule if it might apply. I have worked with Iowa teams and they do not have a coaching box and I might mention that in the pre-game meeting. Other than that I might ask, "Are there any issues you need clarified before we start the game tonight?" Usually this is not a big deal or even something that is a concern. Most states use the NF rules and all we should do is make sure there is no rule that is completely confusion. Usually when schools are from different states the rules differences are obvious or do not exist. I know I had a team last week from Florida and there were no differences they brought up or mentioned.

Peace

Do you know if VT requires the out of state team to wear mouthguards? In MA, out of state teams are not required to wear them; but the MA team is still required to wear them.

You are correct and that was exactly what I told them when it was brought to my attention. Sorry, I should have posted that.

I always ask about it in the coaches conference. Let's all agree on the rules ahead of time, that's my motto.

One difference between IL and MO is the Coaching box. If I remember correctly IL has a 14 ft box and MO is larger possibly 28ft line to baseline. So if you are officiating in MO you shouldn't have any problems with this. Other than that everything else should be the same.

I used to officiate in MO am now in IN and also registered in IL. From what I have seen between MO and IL there are many differences except that IL seems to want the officials to be stricter on uniform issues and the coaches box.

I had a game last week with a team from Erie, PA and a team from Buffalo, NY. In PA, you are not allowed to circle a team during warmups, and the Buffalo team did so. I passed on giving them the "T", but during the coaches meeting we discussed anything that may have been different (when you can enter lane on FTs, coaches box, etc.).

I actually found out about the mouthguard rule in NH ahead of time. It is more restrictive than VT. But both teams will be required to have them in place during live action. The Quebec teams that came down did not. Where you are likely to see differences are in things such as coaches boxes vs no coaches boxes, shot clocks versus no shot clocks, etc. If a MA team is playing in VT and their state requires mouthguards then that will be enforced. I do not know about New York which is the only other state bordering VT.

Interesting, thanks. I didn't even realize that NH had a mouthguard rule. Thanks for the info, Gap.