Full Length Tights
 

I absolutely HATE playing fashion police, but I've seen more and more players wear the full length tights under their shorts and were permitted to wear them throughout the game. How has everyone handled this? Here is what 3-5-7 says:

ART.7... Compression shorts/tights shall be a single solid color similar to the predominant color of the pants/skirt; the length shall be above the knee. Undergarments shall not extend below the pants/skirt.

Does this only apply to shorts or are full length tights that start at the waist and end under the foot an exception?

The rule is pretty clear. I asked a player to remove them last week in a boys varsity game. He left the gym, removed them and nobody else said a word. My guess is that players are wearing them (for God knows what reason) with the knowledge that some officials will let it slide, while some will not.

I make them take them off. I agree that the increasing use is why it's a question on the NFHS survey.

If I can't tell with a quick look, then they're really long socks.

Yeah it's hard to distinguish between the two a lot of the time

We talked about this last night, as far as T Shirts under the jersey, can long sleeves be worn? The only thing I found in the rule book was that the sleeves had to be the same length? Anyone have a rule reference?

That's all there is about sleeve length. Long sleeve shirts are legal.

That's what we went with since we couldn't find anything telling us otherwise.

A good tenet to follow with NFHS rules is that which isn't illegal, is legal.

I Hate Being Fashion Police, Too
 

Ditto for me last week. Easy to take care of. No debate or arguments. The coach, in fact, said to the one kid, "See, I told you..."

Next time they say, "But we wore them last game and the officials didn't say anything", Go to the book to see who the officials were and contact them to ask why, if they indeed ignored it, decided to pass the problem along to you. :rolleyes:

It's funny how this stuff always seems to get cleaned up in the first round of the post-season state tourney. That's because most know that if they allow some stupid fashion police infraction they might not fare too well in the next state tourney officials' selection process.

I have only see one player wearing the tights...it wasn't in a game I was calling but I do have that team this Friday night. He was out several games with knee issues and when he returned he was wearing them so I don't know if they are for medical or not. I will ask the coach and my partners on Friday though and knowing the coach he will flip a lid.

I have seen them in probably half the games I have had. Kids see Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook wearing them and just have to wear them also.

This inconsistency is just silly...

Arms: any length sleeve OK. Compression sleeve OK only if it is medically approved and only a permitted color (and matching).

Legs: Only leg lengths shorter than the shorts OK, Compression sleeves unregulated, any length, any color, no matching requirements.

Why the differences????

I think they should be consistent and make them all legal (any length tights/undershirts, compression sleeves OK too) but keep some color requirements....but not necessarily entirely matching.

Trend?
 

I had this a couple of times this year.

Now, I can think of a few reasons why someone would wear this (skin condition mostly), but overall, probably just like a sleeve - look at me!

Or he/she could be covering up tattoos. (Could be a condition the coach put on the player.)

This is, in my opinion, a stupid rule. I can see reasons for a lot of the uniform/equipment rules, even if I don't like having to enforce them. But this one is just stupid. Why?

1) Wearing long pants instead of shorts is perfectly legal. Yet wearing long pants UNDER shorts is prohibited.

2) As others have already pointed out, the rules do not limit the length of socks (thank God!). So you can wear socks that extend up from the foot, past the knee, all the way up the thigh if you want. There's no way to tell just from looking at the player if s/he's wearing tights or very high socks. There's no reason to treat these differently.

3) Leg sleeves are becoming more popular, particularly in the college game. And like socks, these go over the knee and onto the thigh, so that it's impossible to tell if they are sleeves or tights. Yet these, too, are perfectly legal. Why are they treated differently???

I'm submitting a rule change proposal to the NCAA to make tights and leg sleeves legal, as long as they are a single solid color similar to the dominant color of the game pants. No idea if it will get any attention, but I'm hopeful.

My headache is that much larger because boys (NFHS) and girls (modified NCAAW) work under two different codes in NYC. The only positive is I end up reading rule books prior to each game.

Keeping the whole setup straight makes my head spin. Then you add in fellow officials who don't enforce the rules - including some of my partners who've said "I'm not dealing with that" - and the whole thing becomes a mess.

There is an easy way to tell. Socks and compression tights are two different materials. Also the tights usually have the same padded spot for the knees that arm compressions sleeves have for the elbows.

Also religious reasons.

Assuming you use NFHS rules, legal. Not legal in NCAAW (at least), without medical clearance.

Legal in HS, illegal in college unless accompanied by a medical waiver.

A good friend of mine is the father of probably the first or 2nd best girls player in the state. I went to watch some of her play-off game last week and she was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt. I asked him what was up with that and he said it's something she does for home games. I told him to let her know she won't be doing that next year (she's going to an ACC school).

I was wondering about that after watching the Baylor/UConn game a few nights ago. Griner was wearing a long sleeved shirt and I had thought I remembered it was illegal in NCAA.

Just The Facts, Ma'am ...
 

Tights? Very long socks? Compression shorts? Leg sleeves? Gimme a break. Please.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5251/5...ca118730_m.jpg

My eyes aren't that good.

Legal.

I noticed this by the Omaha South kid with the ESPN highlight the other night. I think a few of the players were wearing long sleeves.

I think they put so much on their legs, it is really hard to tell anymore. I honestly do not know why we should have to look for this stuff. This has so many uncomfortable situations this puts us in if we check for these things. I can only imagine what it is like when girls are involved. The NF really needs to get out of this business. This to me is like socks, who cares?

Peace

You want inconsistencies? Compression sleeves are the arms are illegal in football but medically legal in basketball.

Oh, wait! If the compression sleeve has a pad in it, it then becomes legal!

Tell me how that makes any sense at all.

However, compression sleeves for the legs that extend up under the shorts and compression tights that extend below the shorts, the difference is difficult to distinguish.

NCAA Long Sleeve Undershirt ???
 

Medical waiver?

Question from a 100% NFHS official: If long sleeve undershirts are illegal in the NCAA, what's to stop the player from wearing a long sleeved uniform jersey?

Unfortunately, this is a problem in Nevada and California at the high school and college level. It is an 100% chance that I will at least have to ask:

Question: Are those leg sleeves or tights?
Answer: Leg sleeves.
Question: Let me see the top? (meaning the top of the sleeve)

At that point they either show me the top of the sleeve or they are told to go remove them. I had one high school kid tell me they were sleeves and when I asked him to show me the top he reached up to his waistband! Another player from a college I had four times this year told me he had been wearing them all year. I told him he had not because I had them three times before that game. That was the quickest 30 minutes before a game ever because I had to deal with this crap the whole time with multiple players.

I think two things:
1. If the players want the look they can wear gear to get the same look.
2. The easiest way to get players to stop wearing these things is to make them legal.

I had a kid a couple of weeks ago wearing high socks, knee pads, and some sort of tights/compression thing.

It looked like full length tights to me so I explained to him that he couldn't wear anything that extended below the shorts. After some back and forth about exactly what he was wearing I decided to let it go b/c it wasnt worth 30 seconds of my life talking to a teenager about what he was wearing to play basketball.

I did inform his coach of the rule but told him we weren't sure about what he was wearing so we were letting him play with it tonight. Coach responds, "that's my son and I'm so pissed at him for having all of that crap on in the first place."

Over the last two seasons I've had several players remove what were clearly tights. But kids, emulating what they see in the NBA, put on so much crap now, that I really don't go looking to play fashion police unless it's obvious.

And I agree with others that this rule needs to be updated. I can see the point of not allowing baggy clothing under shorts but with all of the compression type gear out now I don't see the problem with allowing tights if that's what silly kids want to wear these days.

For me with guys (NFHS) I just ask, they show me and that's it. For the arm sleeves I'll ask at the pre-game meeting ("Coach, is so-and-so wearing that for medical reasons?"). I've had a few say "no," probably because they're sick of their kids wearing the stuff.

With girls (NCAAW, actual or modified) I don't have to ask about the arm sleeves, thank goodness. Since anything on their legs that extends below the shorts needs a waiver I only have to deal with the head coach...again, thank goodness.

Often times these are things not noticed until the game starts. Most teams have warm ups that cover their bodies and you only notice a problem when they get ready to play. That is just the unfortunate part of trying to enforce these rules, we find out (at least here) way too late. Then when we have to address the issue, it could delay the game or take out a player that should be playing. I really wish the NF would just let this stuff go. Does it really change how these kids play?

Peace

Our direction this year on arm sleeves was to assume they were for medical reasons unless you knew otherwise....and no need to go asking to find the otherwise.

That has been our policy in this state. But we still have people that insist on asking. Wwwwhhhyyyyyy??

Peace

Great Idea ...
 

Agree. Anything below the waist, if it's not a safety issue, i.e. sharp edge on a knee brace; or if it's not an illegal advantage, i.e. pogo stick sneakers, should be none of our business. Shorts, compression shorts, leg sleeves, tights, socks, and shoes, should not fall under the illegal equipment rule.

Twenty Questions ???
 

I'm stopping after the answer, "Leg sleeves". If they want to lie, fine, let 'em lie. Good luck asking the second question in a girls game. Call me if you need money for bail.