Knee Brace

[truerookie]

I did a game a couple of night ago where a player was wearing a knee brace nothing wrong with wearing the brace just that the hinges were exposed and not cover. I asked the player and coach if she had a sleeve for the brace she stated NO!! I then informed coach and player she cannot play without the sleeve.

Coach: Why she cannot play she has been wearing it 21 games without anyone saying anything?

Me: Can't do anything about the other 21 games but tonight she cannot play without a sleeve.

The player played without the brace coach and player decision.

Did we as a crew make ourselves look bad by enforcing the rule properly? I think not. What about the officials who did the other 21 games and not enforce the rule properly? It just looks bad.

Comments?

[tjones1]

You did your job, the others failed to do their job. Certainly better safe than sorry, what if a player slipped and got cut by the hinge? Who would the finger be pointing at?

[Ref Daddy]

... not the other 21 chances to address this.

Good job!

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by truerookie

Did we as a crew make ourselves look bad by enforcing the rule properly? I think not. What about the officials who did the other 21 games and not enforce the rule properly? It just looks bad.

Good job. Right out of case book play 3.5SitA--"Knee and ankle braces are permitted, but all exposed hinges must be covered." Btw, the oldest trick in the world is saying "No one has said anything about it before". Yeah, right.

[Texas Aggie]

Hate to sound cynical, but before you scold unknown officials, you might add the qualifier, "if the coach was telling the truth..." I know I've been flat out lied to by coaches over equipment issues.

[Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by Texas Aggie

Hate to sound cynical, but before you scold unknown officials, you might add the qualifier, "if the coach was telling the truth..." I know I've been flat out lied to by coaches over equipment issues.

I agree, it sounds like the coach gave up fairly easily too . . . a simple fix with a sock and tape takes care of the problem. I'd say he's been told before.

[Eastshire]

I've had a similar problem with cracked helmets in baseball. One day after disallowing 5 of their 6 helmets, the coach tells me that no one had said anything about the helmets all year. "Coach, I had you two weeks ago and didn't let you use them then either."