Uniform/jewelry police - the pain

[Altor]

I am a track and field official. And let me tell you, being the uniform and jewelry police is the worst part of the job, especially if you don't catch it before the event starts.

We all know, FED rules on jewelry are pretty much the same across all sports...Don't wear it. The trouble is, there isn't a good penalty in track to cover such a minor infraction. In football, you might mark off penalty yards. In basketball, a technical foul might be in order. (I don't know...the rulebook may allow for a warning and instruction to take it off in those sports first.) In track, there really is no penalty other than disqualification from the event. It's crappy, but that is the rule. That's why our association makes it a point to remind all athletes before an event begins to take off all jewelry. As somebody said on another board (baseball?) a couple days ago, "If you weren't born with it, it's jewelry."

And no, you don't disqualify her or have her team forfeit previous meets because of her admission, just like you wouldn't go back and award missed free throws days after a basketball game is completed. Protests for misapplication of the rules must be filed within 30 minutes of completion of the event.

[gslefeb]

VPA alters track attire rules | The Burlington Free Press | Burlington, Vermont

[Jurassic Referee]

Whatinthehell has all of this got to do with us?

We don't make the rules. We don't decide the penalties. We just do what we're we're paid to do. And we're paid not to ignore plainly written rules.

If it's a crappy rule, pin the blame on the clowns who made the rule. It's got absolutely NOTHING to do with the officiating of the individual sport. It's got EVERYTHING to do with the the rulesmakers of that particular sport.

The real uniform police are the goobers who installed this rule. Just wanted to make that clear.

[DLH17]

Originally Posted by jurassic referee

whatinthehell has all of this got to do with us?

We don't make the rules. We don't decide the penalties. We just do what we're we're paid to do. And we're paid not to ignore plainly written rules.

If it's a crappy rule, pin the blame on the clowns who made the rule. It's got absolutely nothing to do with the officiating of the individual sport. It's got everything to do with the the rulesmakers of that particular sport.

The real uniform police are the goobers who installed this rule. Just wanted to make that clear.

+1

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by gslefeb

VPA alters track attire rules | The Burlington Free Press | Burlington, Vermont

From the story:

"In 1992, North Country’s Andy Oliver set a state record in the boys javelin but his throw of 199 feet, 3 inches was erased when he was disqualified for being out of uniform after a coach brought the infraction to the officials’ attention."

So this kid participated nude?!?!?! It's a good thing he wasn't on their javelin catching team!

[Judtech]

and by 'javelin' you mean.......

[APG]

Originally Posted by Altor

In basketball, a technical foul might be in order. (I don't know...the rulebook may allow for a warning and instruction to take it off in those sports first.)

There's no provision that I'm aware of for giving a technical foul for a uniform/jewelry violation. Only thing we can tell them to do is take it off or have the player substituted for, and in my opinion is the correct way to handle a situation like that. From the sound of it, the track and field rule is silly.

[Altor]

Originally Posted by AllPurposeGamer

There's no provision that I'm aware of for giving a technical foul for a uniform/jewelry violation. Only thing we can tell them to do is take it off or have the player substituted for, and in my opinion is the correct way to handle a situation like that. From the sound of it, the track and field rule is silly.

Like I said...I didn't know what was in those rulebooks.

And it is a harsh punishment, I agree. But you can't really stop a race and ask the coach to substitute for the competitor. If you have an idea that I can submit to the rules advisory committee in my state, I'm all ears.

We try to do the preventive officiating that we feel these rules require. I've told competitors standing on a runway waiting for an attempt to take off the necklace. Heck, I've stopped a competitor on his pole vault approach because he still had a warm-up jersey on which was not allowed.

I've also missed the uniform and jewelry violations until it was too late to do the preventive officiating. I hate that. But, in the end, it is the duty of the coach and competitor to know the rule and abide by it.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by AllPurposeGamer

There's no provision that I'm aware of for giving a technical foul for a uniform/jewelry violation. Only thing we can tell them to do is take it off or have the player substituted for, and in my opinion is the correct way to handle a situation like that.

Nope, under NFHS rules we can't tell a player to take anything off. We can only tell them that they can't participate if they wear jewelry. The decision to take the jewelry off or not lies solely with the person wearing it.