Illegal uniforms??
 

The officials in Illinois have been sent a bulletin on illegal uniforms. The coach must be penalized and a special report is to be sent to the IHSA. I believe it is in response to situations involving rule 3 -4 art. 4b. There appears to be several schools in my area that have uniforms that do not comply to this rule.

The way I read the rule: If any part of the number is above an imaginary line drawn under the first letter and the last letter of an arched name the uniform is illegal. The same holds true to an arched name under the number. If any part of the number is below a line drawn at the top of the arched letters the uniform is illegal.

Some officials are penalizing and some are not. Any comments? Are there uniforms in other states that do not comply to this rule?

What do you think about these?
 

Legal or not? This is an Illinois HS (my alum).

Bloom High School

I honestly do not understand why there are stupid rules like this regarding the uniform. The uniform does not give anyone an advantage or disadvantage, whether the numbers are too big, in the wrong spot, etc.

One of the main problems is a technical foul had to given in the State Finals last year on the big stage in front of everyone. The IHSA caught a lot of heat for this so they are making it a POE of their own and want it called uniformly across the state (sorry for the pun). :D

Merry Christmas!

Illinois enforcing uniform rules? The dickens you say!!!!

I'm sure there is one mechanics nit-picker who is not happy as he is not a nit-picker when it comes to uniform rule enforcement.

If it's illegal, penalize and write the report, especially given the new directive.

Perhaps your association could write the schools and the IHSA in regard to the uniform (and not in regard to any spoecific game) and seek clarification.

Disagree ...
 

You've obviously never officiated in a youth, or mens, recreation game where the players are all wearing slightly different "uniforms", often, no more than T-shirts with handwritten numbers on them, or numbers "ironed" into the fabric. Sometimes on the front only, sometimes on the back only. Small numbers. Numbers that don't stand out, colorwise. Nothing quite like asking a six foot, seven inch, 275 pound, ex-football player, who is already upset with the foul that you just called on him, to please turn around so that you can see his number. Thank God the NFHS cares about the uniforms worn in my high school games. It makes my job a lot easier.

And that's not what this thread is about. It's about interscholastic athletic events sanctioned by a state association. Rec rules are a problem for the recreation dept.

Exactly ...
 

Which is my point exactly. Without the NFHS uniform rules, interscholastic games would be just like recreation league games. There are reasons for uniform rules, one of which is to make numbers on the jerseys easily visible to officials. Sure, some NFHS rules seem to be set up by the "fashion police", but most of these rules are there for a reason, quite often a good reason.

Uh, yes I do officiate youth basketball games. I understand what you're saying, and I agree. But what I meant strictly was like the size of the numbers, where they are located, etc. As long as there is a number on the front and a number on the back, and either team has distinguishing colors from each other, I'm good. i don't care about logos, names, school names, color designs, etc.

You're not getting what BillyMac is telling you.

You would if they didn't have the rules.

Consider the ten second free throw rule. You rarely see a player even approach ten seconds, even more rarely does a player actually reach ten seconds, and you never see it called (maybe a couple of officials on this board have ever called it). Some might think the rule isn't necessary based on that, but if it was removed, coaches would use free throws for unlimited timeout opportunities.

The same goes for the uniform requirements. Without the standards for number sizes and locations, there would be plenty of scholistic uniforms that were nearly impossible to read and understand. All it would take is some AD somewhere to let her husband in the drama department design their basketball uniforms.

Dude, Dude ...
 

Dude looks like a lady.

Whether we agree with the uniform rules or not, the school purchased the uniforms. They could just as easily have purchased legal uniforms. But they didn't. A little accountability this season should go a long way toward voluntary compliance next season.