Player's sneaker comes off during game
 

High school varsity rules. A1's sneaker comes off. A1 is unable to slip it back on during play. Team B shoots. Team A rebounds and advances the ball to the frontcourt. There was no press. If no time out was called and the ball remained live should the officiating crew stop play and allow A1 to put the sneaker on? If so,when should play be stopped?

No. No stoppage of play for a shoe.

However, if the play is already stopped, wait for the player to fix the shoe before putting the ball back in play.

And don't forget to call a toe truck. :p

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I'm kind of amazed at how often this question comes up.....and how often sneakers seem to fall off! I can't remember the last time it happened in one of my games......

I guess the art of shoe tying went out along with penmanship.....

No kidding, told one of my fourth graders to tie his shoe about a month ago and he told me that he didn't know how and his mom always bought him shoes with velcro. Since then he now can tie them with 90% accuracy. I've noticed about 25% of the girls in Wreck league, 4-6th just tuck the laces inside the shoe with out bothering to tie them. Its getting to be one of the first things I look for when the kids are warming up at that level. I tell them to tie their shoes.

A La Padgett
 

Several yrs ago I started some of my younger Rec League games (9-10 yr olds) by saying, "Everyone make sure your shoes are tied. First player who's sneaker comes untied - coach owes me $1."

I don't do that, or those leagues anymore. :)

The Wizard of Westwood ...
 

On his first day of practice, Coach John Wooden (UCLA) would spend the entire day teaching his highly touted recruits how to properly put on their socks and sneakers. The likes of Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton watched patiently as Coach Wooden demonstrated the proper way to put on athletic socks and tie shoes. It seems silly and frivolous to speak of this, until you realize that Coach was teaching his team to pay attention to the minute details that form the foundation of their preparation. He showed them that neither a world-class vertical jump nor a seven-foot frame was immune to failure if your shoes became untied or if the socks bunched up and created a blister that limited your play. He was telling his players that the greatness of their game was subject to the very foundation of their preparation.

When a kid bends down to tie his shoe during a dead ball, sometimes it takes him quite a while. When that happens, I go over to him and loudly say "No - the rabbit goes around the rock...".

The other kids usually crack up.