Shoes again
 

So what's it like in your area? Are you seeing more officials with white stipes or swishes on their shoes?

The Land Of Steady Habits ...
 

Absolutely not. From the waist down, we're the "Men (and Women) In Black".

Those who also do some college ball, yes.

Those who just do HS, no.

nothing but black

Both HS & College officials wear the swooshes & Shox varieties. Nothing "crazy" seen by me...yet.

Similar situation here.

Peace

Most everything I've seen here is all black; even the Shox.

Where I am in the UK, it is all black - we are expected to polish it black if it is not already.

Some guys may use something else for a local recreation game but they will not pick up national games that way and it is known. Generally, we are expected to wear all black, even though it is getting harder to find, I get mine as an import from the other side of the pond (and hope that Customs don't hit my order with 19% import VAT :rolleyes:)

Some of both
 

Alabama changed to book to read "predominately black" shoes. Appartently, we have an option. That's a first.

Most all black in my area for basketball. There's a little white coming in for baseball with the New Balance shoes.

Down here it's all black. Our association actually does random uniform checks from time to time, so it's in out best interests to have all black everywhere we go.

It is hard to find shoes that are all black anymore unless you want to buy only patented leather shoes. I think that has a great deal to do with the change in perception of what is acceptable. Now you see officials wearing shoes that have a little logo on them unlike you would see several years ago and hardly anyone is saying much of anything about this issue.

I will say that I was at a Division 1 camp and this was made a big deal to those that had white on their shoes. It comes down to who you work for and what they think about this issue.

Peace

Around here, our shoes must be all white. No black or navy logos.

Oh, sorry. I thought this was the volleyball forum. Never mind. :D

I have a supervisor who doesn't mind white on the shoe, BUT either the entire crew has white or none of the crew has white.

It's after Labor Day - you shouldn't be wearing white shoes anyway. Now, I need to talk to you about that white belt... :eek:

Around here, I've found the logos are more predominant among HS officials. At our NCAA conference meetings, we've been told, at least on the NCAA-W side, that the shoes should be all black - no white or colored logos, no colored soles, etc. Obviously, wear what is comfortable, but use a black magic marker if necessary.

Does a Sharpie marker work best at coloring over the white or grey?

I was always a "black only" shoe guy until my all black shoes led me down the path to foot surgery. Now I am a "wear what works for your feet and amke them as plack as possible" guy. The shoes I wear are 98% black and I can't get color to stay on the other 2%.

Someone said something about it after I had changed to the new shoes and I told them that as soon as they paid to fix my feet, they could have a say in what I wore. Nothing has ever been said to me about it again.

Once again, do what the local association wants.

Somebody's been sniffing the Sharpie!! :eek:

I really tried to make them black...;)

I'm somewhat the same way - I was an all-black shoes guy until last year when I finally decided I just couldn't do 4+ nights a week without more support (I've got fallen arches and am a significant pronator) and the officiating-specific shoes out there just don't have what I need.

So, I have an all-black, patent leather pair for varsity games, and another pair of mostly black running shoes specific for my feet that I wear any sub-V games. I wouldn't hesitate to wear them for V games either, but they've got a mesh look to them that just doesn't look so good. But my feet sure like them.

I'm pretty certain my current shoes have contributed to the running injuries I experienced after my last couple sets of games. So I'm looking for a better shoe. Your response to the challenge on this makes sense. But I don't know if I have the chops or the street cred to get away with it. ;)

I think Greg is a reasonable guy and buys the logic. Do what you need to do...