Tights

[Ed Maeder]

I know that tights are illegal as per 3-5-6, but was told with a licensed medical physicians statement that they can be worn. I seem to remember something in a rules interpretation about the sleeve for medical reasons but don't know if tights were part of that. Am I getting bad information or not. Thanks in advance.

[Jurassic Referee]

I wouldn't accept just anything from the person's doctor. I'd want something from the state association, same as for artificial limbs(3-5-2NOTE) and head coverings(3-5-3EXCEPTIONa).

[BillyMac]

From Jurassic Referee: "I wouldn't accept just anything from the person's doctor. I'd want something from the state association, same as for artificial limbs(3-5-2NOTE) and head coverings(3-5-3EXCEPTIONa)."

After almost 26 years of officiating, I had my first artificial limb, a leg, in a game a few weeks ago. It was in a Catholic middle school game. The young man with the prosthesis was skilled enough to be a starter on his team. It appeared that the only disadvantage he had was that it took a little longer for him to accelerate than the other players. I talked to him about it for a few seconds while we were waiting for subsitutes during a free throw. He had been wearing the prosthesis for several years, plays both basketball and soccer with it, and wears the same prosthesis for sports as he does during nonsports activities.

I had heard about this young man previous to this game from other officials who work these games, and since it was so late in the season, I assumed that he was "authorized" to wear the prosthesis, especially since, unlike a high school game, I wasn't aware of any "state association" for a game such as this. I did mention to his dad, an assistant coach, after the game, that if his team was planning to participate in a postseason tournament outside of our area, that he may want to have some documentation available in case there was some kind of challange.

[BillyMac]

From Ed Maeder : "Tights are illegal as per 3-5-6, but was told with a licensed medical physician's statement that they can be worn. I seem to remember something in a rules interpretation about the sleeve for medical reasons but don't know if tights were part of that.

Ed Maeder: I'm looking at Rule 3 and the only reference in the rule regarding tights is "tights shall not extend below the pants". Exceptions for either religious or medical reasons are given for artificial limbs, head coverings, and religious and medical alert medals. As you indicated, there may be a rule interpretation allowing such an exception for tights or sleeves, but I can't find it in the 2006-07 NFHS Rule Book. Hopefully your thread may get some of our more active Forum members to do some research to get us the correct citation, either rule book, case book, or interpretation.

[Adam]

I've never officiated a game with a player wearing a prosthetic, but there was a woman at my college who played volleyball (NAIA) with a prosthetic hand. She wore a different prosthetic for sports than she did off the court.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by Ed Maeder

I know that tights are illegal as per 3-5-6, but was told with a licensed medical physicians statement that they can be worn. I seem to remember something in a rules interpretation about the sleeve for medical reasons but don't know if tights were part of that. Am I getting bad information or not. Thanks in advance.

Bad info. The NFHS does not allow tights, medical note or not.

If your state association okays it, great. But otherwise, no.