First Time for Everything

[jdw3018]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

The OhioHSAA has a five quarter per day limitation. But that is not the point being made. For the sake of argument, the two schools involved were playing a FR/JV/VAR tripleheader, then the girl could play in all three games as long as she does not play in more than five quarters.

The game being discussed was just a JV/VAR doubleheader, meaning that she most definitely was an eligible player for the JV game and NFHS rules are quite specific: A team can only play short handed if they do not have any eligible subsitutes because of disqualification or injury. The player involved was not injured or disqualified, therefore Team A had five eligible players and were required to field all five players. The fact that she or the VAR Head Coach wanted her to have quarters to play in the VAR game is not germaine, in fact had she played in the fourth quarter she still would have had one quarter to use in the VAR game. The JV Head Coach does not have the luxury of just saying she is no longer able to play because that is false statement.

MTD, Sr.

I completely understand the scenario - it's exactly the same (5 quarters) in Kansas where I used to be. And there it is not uncommon for coaches to do exactly as was described. As long as those players are no longer in the gym in uniform, we weren't to ask why they weren't there.

If they were on the bench in uniform, then they had to play.