kneebrace?

[roadking]

i had a player come in the game during a ft as he walks up i noticed the shine of bare metal coming off the front edge of a black knee brace. this brace had the side hinges protected but had a approx. four inch v shaped piece of protective metal for the front of the knee just under the knee cap. i choose to remove him from the game because i thought it would be a danger to the other players. of course the coach did not agree and says his player has been using this brace all year. i explained that this game he will not be able to paticapate do to the danger of the knife like effect of the front of the brace. the coach just did not get the dangers of the brace, i guess my concerns are that next game this player will be playing with this brace because the coach has no common sense and as long as it goes unnoticed the coach will play him. (the bare edges got my attention)would you have notified a school admin. of the danger of the brace?

[BktBallRef]

Ultimately, you have to make the call in the game that you're in. The rule book specifically covers hinges. But I don't think you were out of line to address the sitch. Many of these braces come with a cover. But most prefer not to use them.

[zebraman]

You made the right call. It is not your fault that other officials have been letting the player play. If you have a local referees association, I would suggest bringing it up for discussion at the next meeting.

Z