Com-pre-hen-sion
 

Before start of Boys JV game last night, players removing warm-ups... Visitors have Navy Blue jerseys. A couple of starters have navy tees on, but one kid has a lighter shade of blue, more of a royal blue.

Partner tells the kid he needs to take it off, that all of the team's tees need to be the same color. Kid complies.

At half time I ask partner about this. I suggest that I don't believe that there is a team-wide coordination restriction, just individual player requirements. He disagrees. I suggest we look to the rules book... get it out and read the rule about undershirts:

3-5-5 .... Undershirts shall be a single solid color similar to the torso of the jersey and shall be hemmed and not have frayed or ragged edges. If the undershirt has sleeves, they shall be the same length. A visible manufacturer's logo/trademark/reference is not permitted on the undershirt.

I finish reading and he says "Exactly!" I say "well alrighty then!" and we move on.

Navy blue & royal blue are similar colors, no?
JV game too... why trouble trouble?

If the home team had white t-shirts on & one of the kids had a dirty one that was turning yellow/cream, would he make that player remove it too?

Just to be picky,A single solid color...............not similar colors.

but is the undershirt requirement for a team or a player -- as in single solid color PER shirt or PER team?

3-5-5 .... Undershirts shall be a single solid color similar to the torso of the jersey

Hmmmm................good point.

I think you're correct. Could it be interpreted the other way?

I've always thought that meant per shirt, and that similar to the jersey leaves some room for a small amount of variation. In the dark blue category, there's probably even more room, because of the various ways the light can affect the dyes. I sure wouldn't pick this particular nit at the JV level, although I might at varsity, depending on how far apart the blues were.

While on the uniform topic, I wish the NF, if they want to continue to make us the uniform police, would give us the tools to enforce it...you have to love the situation where the first time you see player undershirts (since they have had warmups on) is when they come out for the jump ball. Then you're sending a starter back to the locker room right before the jump ball b/c he has frayed edges on his undershirt sleeves. Rather than starting the game looking like an OOO, why not do something rule-wise like force all players to remove warm-up tops with 3 minutes left in warm-ups? That way if you have an issue you can fix it before the game starts. You would see a HUGE increase in compliance I am guessing....if they wanted to stop making us the uniform police that would be fine with me too...

I don't see how you are going to tell the kid wearing royal blue that his tee-shirt is illegal. Justification? Is his shirt not a "single solid color similar to the torso of the jersey"? If so, then it is legal.

This isnt really that big of an issue -- especially at the varsity level.

Nice points, I think the good official treats this like a violation/foul that he/she didn't get a good look at.
If you can't clearly tell, then it didn't happen.

Or when you're watching tape & have to rewind it several times to justify your call, probably should've been a no call then.

JMO but if they're wearing blue jerseys & the t-shirt isn't black or green, then it's blue...

Isn't an issue b/c players comply on their own or b/c officials are enforcing it 100%? And when I say 100% I mean no frayed edges on shirts, no visible undershirts (including side panels) that are different color, etc...b/c if you get 100% compliance from players on their own then I want to work where you work...a few weeks ago there was a picture in the paper at one of the biggest xmas tournaments in the state, kid was going up for a shot with his white jersey and BRIGHT RED understhirt on...:eek:

Well it was a XMas tourney wasn't it :D

Yeah but that wasn't Santa Claus!:p