What do I do?

[fullor30]

Personally, I ignore it, but bring it to the attention of partners at half. Count it as a learning experience and file it away. It may have been discussed by both teams days before the game and agreed upon by both.

In my area, a team received new unis this season only to have home colors gold and away brown. A violation. They contacted turkey tournament school officials who switched them from home to away team. Since game was on a neutral court, problem solved.

Does one team gain an advantage by having wrong colors? No. Is it a rule? Yes.

To me, it's game management 101.

[chartrusepengui]

I would just report the schools to the state association and let them handle it. I am not going to be too upset as long as I have 2 different colors. When the home was in black and visitors in white - I am going to assume there must have been some kind of communication between the schools.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by chartrusepengui

I would just report the schools to the state association and let them handle it.

K, so if I do that do I run the risk of being the "tattle-tell" and possibly get my partners in trouble for not having enforced it. I don't want to be know for having thrown my partners under the bus to the association and lose trust.

[jdw3018]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

K, so if I do that do I run the risk of being the "tattle-tell" and possibly get my partners in trouble for not having enforced it. I don't want to be know for having thrown my partners under the bus to the association and lose trust.

If you said nothing to anybody at the time, I wouldn't just report it. If you know the guys you called with, it might be worth a call to them to say "hey, I should have mentioned it last night, but..." and then see if they think it's worth reporting. I wouldn't report it to the state without letting them know, too.

You do want to get clarification from the state (through your assignor it sounds like) on what they would want done in this situation if you were to see it in the future. It would also be appropriate if the schools were notified if the state wants this enforced so they don't get nailed in the future after being allowed to do so last night.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by fullor30

Personally, I ignore it, but bring it to the attention of partners at half. Count it as a learning experience and file it away. It may have been discussed by both teams days before the game and agreed upon by both.

It was agreed upon by both. I asked one of the coaches and he said that the home team wanted to have a "black out" game so the visiting team agreed to wear whites.

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

It was agreed upon by both. I asked one of the coaches and he said that the home team wanted to have a "black out" game so the visiting team agreed to wear whites.

Then why are we even having this discussion? Game on, they both agreed earlier.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by fullor30

Then why are we even having this discussion? Game on, they both agreed earlier.

Because it is possible that they didn't bother to clear it with the state association or league office.
If I were one of the Us, then I would inform the R and let him deal with it.
If I were the R, then I would ask the home school if they received documentation or permission from the state office for their "black-out" game.

As officials we don't write the rules, we simply enforce them and we don't have the authority to grant exceptions or set them aside.

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Because it is possible that they didn't bother to clear it with the state association or league office.
If I were one of the Us, then I would inform the R and let him deal with it.
If I were the R, then I would ask the home school if they received documentation or permission from the state office for their "black-out" game.

As officials we don't write the rules, we simply enforce them and we don't have the authority to grant exceptions or set them aside.

We've been down this road before. Take me to the woodshed. Game on, and I'm not reporting it. I can't even fathom any assignor in the Chicago area that would disagree with me.

I understand your reasoning, it just doesn't apply in this situation IMHO. I may point out to home school, as you mentioned, but would never ask for documentation. Seriously, I'd be laughed out the Chicagoland area.

Why do I picture some Nazi border agent saying " Papers Pleez"

[BayStateRef]

A buddy of mine likes to tell this story. During pre-game warm-ups, he sees that one team has undershirts that do not match their game jerseys. He goes to the coach of the other team and asks if he is OK with this. The coach says, "So are we going to enforce some of the rules tonight, or all of them?"

The NFHS has made a push that officials are to enforce the rules. And every month or so, there is some thread where officials here make the case why they will not enforce thus and such a rule. If "home team wears white" is an option that can be decided between the coaches, then let the rule say so. Otherwise, I enforce the rules.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by BayStateRef

A buddy of mine likes to tell this story. During pre-game warm-ups, he sees that one team has undershirts that do not match their game jerseys. He goes to the coach of the other team and asks if he is OK with this. The coach says, "So are we going to enforce some of the rules tonight, or all of them?"

So when that coach gets whacked when he's 2 inches out of the box he shouldn't be surprised.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by fullor30

We've been down this road before. Take me to the woodshed. Game on, and I'm not reporting it. I can't even fathom any assignor in the Chicago area that would disagree with me.

I understand your reasoning, it just doesn't apply in this situation IMHO. I may point out to home school, as you mentioned, but would never ask for documentation. Seriously, I'd be laughed out the Chicagoland area.

Why do I picture some Nazi border agent saying " Papers Pleez"

Isn't your state the one where the team was penalized for wearing illegal jerseys in the State Semi-final game? Didn't they claim that they had worn them all year and no official had said anything to them? Didn't Marty Hickman give an interview in which he essentially said, "too bad, penalize them, the officials need to do their job"?

Well, now we know who one of those officials was who didn't say anything about the illegal jerseys all year. I'll also wager that you didn't get to work at the State Tournament.

Out here, if you want to work come tournament time, then you had better do things by the book.

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Isn't your state the one where the team was penalized for wearing illegal jerseys in the State Semi-final game? Didn't they claim that they had worn them all year and no official had said anything to them? Didn't Marty Hickman give an interview in which he essentially said, "too bad, penalize them, the officials need to do their job"?

Well, now we know who one of those officials was who didn't say anything about the illegal jerseys all year. I'll also wager that you didn't get to work at the State Tournament.

Out here, if you want to work come tournament time, then you had better do things by the book.

It's a 'bridge too far' trying to connect illegal jerseys with wearing away jerseys agreed upon by both schools prior to the game. As an above poster mentioned, are you penalizing a coach for being two inches out of the coaching box?

And the amount you care to wager? Christmas is right around the corner and I could use the extra change.

FYI , officials who didn't say anything regarding illegal jerseys worked the state final.

That said, I do enforce illegal jersey rules and also home and away color rule but not in this circumstance.

What's your position on lower level HS games in inner city schools( of which we have many in the Chicago area) that may have uniform issues due to lack of funding?

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Isn't your state the one where the team was penalized for wearing illegal jerseys in the State Semi-final game? Didn't they claim that they had worn them all year and no official had said anything to them? Didn't Marty Hickman give an interview in which he essentially said, "too bad, penalize them, the officials need to do their job"?

Well, now we know who one of those officials was who didn't say anything about the illegal jerseys all year. I'll also wager that you didn't get to work at the State Tournament.

Out here, if you want to work come tournament time, then you had better do things by the book.

It's a 'bridge too far' trying to connect illegal jerseys with wearing away jerseys agreed upon by both schools prior to the game. As an above poster mentioned, are you penalizing a coach for being two inches out of the coaching box?

And the amount you care to wager? Christmas is right around the corner and I could use the extra change.

FYI , officials who didn't say anything regarding illegal jerseys worked the state final.

That said, I do enforce illegal jersey rules and also home and away color rule but not in this circumstance.

What's your position on lower level HS games in inner city schools( of which we have many in the Chicago area) that may have uniform issues do to funding?

[rfp]

In one of the HS leagues I officiate, the home school wears dark and the visitors white. That's just what they do, I don't know why.

In this case, I would mention your observation to the R. I'm 99% sure he'll pass on it. If you were to override him in this case and whack both coaches, as a brand new varsity official, I think that's suicide. If anyone asks you why you let it go, you can rightly say you brought it to the attention of the more senior official and he decided to let it go (for whatever reason). Then it's his issue. I think you get in more trouble for crossing your partner(s) in this case, than for sticking your neck out to enforce a rule like this. JMHO.