Lazy Partner Advice

[bainsey]

I appreciate the thoughts and advice.

My board says that 3-4-1c (home team must wear white) is only enforceable at the varsity level. That's the only distinction we've received. Personally, I'd like to see some additional leniency for the middle schools, for reasons mentioned by others, but until I get that permission, I'll fall in line. If someone else chooses not to comply, I'll have to deal with it.

At the end of last season, I had a pair of middle school games where the away teams had a few red uniforms and white undershirts. My partner dealt with the boys' coach, and those shirts were removed in the locker room without incident. Later, I dealt with the girls' coach, and one of her players wound up in tears. Her mother actually came out of the stands wanting to see this rule in writing. The home team provided her with a red undershirt.

Internally, I was quite angry at the other officials (whoever they were) who let it go all year. One key fact is that our board is not the only choice in town that does middle school games. There's another crew, and to say they're more lenient in a number of facets is an understatement. This other crew apparently worked a lot of this school's away games (our board serves their home games), and I have a pretty good idea no-one cared to tell either coach about the undershirt rule.

I sympathize with those MS coaches who are given illegally numbered uniforms, for I bet most of them aren't aware of these rules, and/or they're told by the AD "it's just a high school rule" (despite my board's instructions). The trouble is, if you don't enforce these rules, those illegal unis never go away.