Uniform question
 

Watching a high school game tonight. Late in the game a sub came in whose shorts did not match his teammates. Teammates shorts were white with blue while this kid's shorts were solid white. T was issued.

I can't find anywhere in the rulebook where it says the shorts must match. For that matter I can't find where the jerseys must match.

Am I not reading it correctly?

Would love to have a word with these plumbers!!!

O-o officials screwed the pooch on this one, big time.

We do not have any sayso regarding shorts other to ensure they are worn properly.

Crap like this does wonders for our credibility and reputations as a group.

Do us all a favor and make sure this gets brought to the attention of their assignor.

Hey!!!
 

:eek:

Go ahead, I am one. I'm listening. :cool:
Oh, you meant one of those officials there who made that call, not all plumbers in general, right?

Justacoach,

what about the size of logos on the shorts?

3.4.5 SITUATION: Prior to the jump ball to start the game, the officials observe that the five Team B starters are all wearing pants which have (a) a manufacturer's logo & a school's mascot which meets the proper dimension limitations; or (b) a manufacturer's logo that exceeds the limitation of 2¼ square inches by 2¼ square inches in any one dimension.

RULING: Legal uniforms in (a). In (b), illegal pants. The Team B head coach is charged directly with a technical foul. (3-6-2; 10-5-4)

So I recall. Sorry to besmirch your honorable profession. Of course I meant in the figurative sense..

As far as I know, the only restrictions on the shorts themselves have to do with logos (NFHS 3-4-5):

ART. 5 . . . Uniform pants/skirts shall adhere to the following:
a. Only one visible manufacturer’s logo/trademark/reference is permitted. See 3-6-2 for size requirements.

As for jerseys having to match, here's the skinny on that (NFHS 3-4-1):

ART. 1 . . . Team jersey color and design shall adhere to the following:
a. The torso of the team jersey shall be the same single solid color for all team members.

Saw that but I don't see anything from preventing one player on the home team from wearing a white jersey with "WILDCATS" and a teammate with a white jersey with "Wildcats" in script or in a different color.

Generally though, aren't the uniform rules more strictly enforced for Varsity Contests?

How strict should the rules be for Sub-Varsity Sqauds?

Last year there were a few times, where a Varsity Player played a quarter of JV, wearing the Varsity White home jersey, yet the JV Home Jersey was another light color.

Sorry, thought we were just talking about color. I believe you are correct. Aside from being the same color, each jersey must individually adhere to the requirements of 3-4. But there is no requirement that they all be "identical".

BITS cited the uniform rule on shorts. The OP had nothing to do with logos. And as noted, the officials in the OP decided to be the uniform police and were dead solid wrong.

Sub varsity/JV etc.-check local listings. Where I am, do to budget issues, the fact that V players will also play some sub V/JV etc., we are directed to not be the uniform police at this level. Jersey torsos same color, no duplicate #'s (we use tape to make corrections).....we're good to go.

What can you do if Team A wore their white home jersey and Team B do likewise? And neither Team has their away jersey.

In my posting however, I mentioned that the Varsity player was wearing the Home White, while the JV Home was wearing their home jersey, but it was of another color. So in that case the jersey torsos were not of the same color.

Budget does have something to do with how many players suit up, but school size also is a consideration.

Concerning the shorts issue, I was just mentioning that in the case book about the logos cause of not being within the specifications for the sizing. But then on the logo sizes, how many officials carry tape measures with them & check every player's uniform before they play?

So what most of you are saying is ...
 

that the officials came up a little "short" on this one. Guess their call was a stretch?

Geez, common sense would tell you that for any high school these days the uniform budget is probably near the bottom of the priorities. I think at our local high school they are using three generations of uniforms to outfit the three teams (F, JV, V).

Don't we have enough to watch without creating added uniform issues by rewriting the rule book.

Size Matters......
 

JVB game last year. H JV's were wearing "hand-me-down" V jerseys. They were so big the JV boys could hardly keep their pants up and shirts tucked in.....not only did it look really bad, it also helped lead to a sloppy game.

Anybody know what the word 'uniform' means?

We often see JV players who are playing up but don't have a V uniform. No big deal. :shrug:

I'd allow it, applying the same rationale as the "blood on the jersey, and no replacement available" case play.

We blewn this one last night. The visiting team gets new uniforms every year purchased by a prominent alumnus, the shorts had the logo in 2 different locations.

Shooting an email to my executive board right now to advise them of the situation.

BNR:
You know your Uniform Police badge is about to be revoked!!

Yeah, I know. But at least I did the honorable thing and self-reported. You know, like the USC Trojan basketball program. :D

We'll Take Your Secret Decoder Ring Also ...
 

And that case and its rationale, for those following along at home, is this: "B1 is directed to leave the game because of excessive blood on his/her uniform shirt. Team B’s manager has failed to pack any extra shirts. (a) The coach asks one of the substitutes to give his/her shirt to B1; or (b) Team A is able to find a shirt which B1 can wear even though it is not exactly the same color or style of the Team B shirts. The shirt will however, clearly identify B1 as a member of Team B and will not be confusing to either team or the officials. RULING: Acceptable procedure in both (a) and (b). In both situations the scorer will make necessary changes in the scorebook without penalty. COMMENT: The spirit and intent of the rule is to do everything possible to allow the player to use a different shirt and return without penalty. However, identical numbers shall not be allowed on the same team." (NFHS 3.3.7 A)

I would suggest that the rule itself may allow for a team's jerseys to be different shades of the same color.

"The torso of the team jersey shall be the same single solid color for all team members."

It comes down to how you define "single solid color". Let's ignore solid for the moment. What is a single color? Is blue a color, or is that too broad? Is navy blue a color, or is that too broad? Are we talking a single swatch from the Pantone color chart?

I submit the answer is somewhere in between blue and PMS 286 and that "pretty close" is close enough to actually comply with the rule and eliminates the need for any hand wringing.

From the Rules for Men ...
 

ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what Mauve is.

ROFL

As I recall, however, the default 16 colors included several light and dark shade color pairs (e.g., white/gray, blue/light blue, red/magenta, etc.). And by that very colorful (pun intended) logic, I think my assertion stands. For example, any shade of blue that isn't obviously light blue, is blue. :D

I don't think the lighting in most gyms is good enough for me to discern navy blue from blue. Heck the coach from my last game clearly thought my eyes were bad anyway.

Pantone Matching System???
 

:) So do you carry your own personal PMS book with you to check out the different shades? :cool: A mention of the Pantone Matching System and uniform colors are in the same sentence. Wow, who know? I'm impressed! :D

I use the same logic for this as I do for the headband color:

I only had the box of 8 Crayola (tm) crayons in kindergarden, not the box of 64 with the fancy crayon sharpener on the side. I "assign" all the colors of the uniforms and headbands to one of those 8 colors. If all get the same "assignment" then they match.

I worry about "blue" (not sky blue, navy blue, light blue, blue-green, turquoise, et) and "black" (not silver, grey)

I like. :)

Nothing new. My rant FWIW
 

I understand that the proper uniform is a requirement here in IL (V level only). The state wants this strictly enforced. Some officials do it, and some don't. Either because they are unfamilar with the rule, or they just don't want to. It makes it a difficult start to the game when you are the first crew to give out a T for this to start the game this late in the season (ie holiday tournament), and tell the coach he has to be buckled in for the rest of the game. To complicate matters more some teams have letters stating that there illegal uniforms are ok for the time being. State knows who the illegal teams are for the most part and it would be nice if they were more proactive before the season. I hate this rule even though I enforce it. It has nothing to do with the contest itself and in no way creates an unfair advantage to either team. Schools and coaches should get all uniform designs approved before they order new uniforms. This is always a hot topic at meetings and seems to be such every year.