Head on head collision. Blood trail to the bench. Kid gets iced down and leaves the playing area. A couple of minutes before the 2nd half I ask how he is doing. He says he is doing great and is ready to play. Coach says no. I say no. He asks why not. I tell him for one thing, you have blood on your uniform. He tells me he can cut that part off.

It was too bad. They only had 7 & one kid rolled an ankle and another fouled out when he draped a kid on a shot with a minute left. Both teams exhibited good sportsmanship. And my non-patched partner, for the first time ever, did not call 3 seconds from midcourt on a player under my nose.

If the coach had said yes, you would've just found him another jersey and let him play, right?

Not without a doctor's written permission.

Why? Did you determine that he'd been unconscious?

Let's see. He was led back to the bench where he was bleeding from his forehead profusely. Probably at least five minutes of the how many fingers routine. He was then led off the court to the locker room for treatment. No. Not without permission.

I don't mean to be dense, but do you have rules support for preventing a player from playing due to earlier bleeding?

The "how many fingers" thing was not mentioned at first. Did this lead you to conclude that he had been unconscious?

Chuck, the ruling body in our state, the Vermont Principals Assn is very adamant about safety issues. I was knocked out for 45 seconds in a game in HS, sat out one whistle and went back in. If my Dad hadn't taped the radio broadcast, I probably would not have been able to remember much of the conclusion of the game. I am going to err on the side of caution here having experienced a concussion in game play myself. I know I probably must have told my coach that I was fine, too. The amusing part was the comment about cutting off the bloody part of the shirt. Sorry I did not go into more detail originally.

Uhhh, still don't agree. Unless he is apparently unconcious I'm not stopping him from playing, its not my call.

3-3-7 . . . A player who has been determined apparently unconscious shall not return to play in the game without written authorization from a physician (MD/DO).


Unless the Vermont state association puts something more stringent in writing, the above is the rule that you have to follow.