Player equipment question
 

I am working games in a national girls Nike tournament being played locally.

It seems that all the girls have been give "Karate Kid" looking Nike headbands with long loose ends. Yesterday, in all 3 games I worked, I had the girls remove them while in the game. IMO, the ends of the headbands are safety hazards because they could poke someone in the eye.

Agree/disagree with my actions? Nothing in 3-5 specifically addresses this type of item, but the rule (or case play) does say the prohibited list is not all inclusive.

Skylar Diggins I think popularized these "flying tails" style head thingies. Several years ago I insisted they take 'em off. Couldn't come up with a reason that 3" of cloth was any sort of a safety issue, so they seem to be universally allowed around here now. Never had any sort of item at the ends that would poke anything out. With the lack of any specific rule that I can find (am always open to learning if I'm missing something), I don't consider it an issue to bite off. As a fad, it will fade in time, only to be replaced by something else equally as unnecessary.
Anyone else allow or forbid these?

Now Use Head For Something Other Than Target (Miyagi, The Karate Kid, 1984) ...
 

Like this?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21icQgUZG1L.jpg

If so, I don't see anything illegal about this.

Sponsor Headbands
 

Could they have been further tied up or tucked in in any way or would that have been too much trouble for what it's worth?

Don't Be A Plumber (With Apologies To Freddy) ...
 

Would you ask a player with a long ponytail to further tie it up, or to tuck it in? To take it to an extreme, would you ask a player with totally unrestrained waist length hair not tied back in any way, i.e., no ponytail, to put it into a ponytail?

Don't be silly, Billy....
 

This appears to be a Nike sponsored contest, with Nike products, I was trying to reach a compromise to allow the players to safely wear them.

A Few Inches Of Cloth, Unsafe ???
 

I agree, the extreme can be silly.

If the headbands are the same as the image that I posted earlier, then I don't believe that any compromise is necessary, I believe that these are legal equipment.

While hair is definitely not equipment, it does fall under NFHS safety rulings. Officials can rule that fingernails, also not equipment, are a safety issue, and not allow a player to wear unsafe length fingernails. I doubt that most officials would rule long hair, just because it's long, to be a safety issue, either in a ponytail, or unrestrained. If most officials would deem that long hair wouldn't present any safety issues by "poke(ing) someone in the eye", then most officials would probably not deem that a few inches of cloth on a headband would present any safety concerns.

I am willing to accept that my premise might be wrong, but over thirty-three years, and thousands of games, I've never seen an official remove a player from a game simply because her hair was too long, and thus, unsafe. By rule, we can, but I've never seen long hair, simply because it was too long, be ruled unsafe.

I might (note that I said might) have an issue with long hair tied up into knots at the end, i.e., some type of braiding. These knots, when inertially swung around, could present some "poke(ing)" safety concerns (high school physics, Newton's Second Law, F=ma). But just plain hair, or just plain cloth (on a headband), wouldn't generate the same concern (or Second Law force) for me. Also, obviously, beads on the end of hair, or anywhere, must always be considered illegal.

3.5 SITUATION A: What are the standards which the referee must use in determining whether a team member will be permitted to wear certain equipment? RULING: ... criteria which determine the legality of equipment ... any equipment which, in the judgment of the referee, is dangerous to others ... Equipment which could cut or cause an opponent to have an abrasion is also always illegal and, therefore, is prohibited. It will be noted that the listing of equipment which is always illegal is not inclusive. It cannot identify every item which is not permitted. The generalization is required since the referee’s judgment is necessary.

3-7: The referee shall not permit any team member to participate if in his/her judgment any item constitutes a safety concern, such as, but not limited to, a player’s fingernails or hairstyle.

And most of you guys probably thought that you would never have any real use for high school physics. Now you should all contact your physics teachers and apologize to them. I'm sure that Mr. Letize, my high school physics teacher, and baseball coach, would be pleased that I used a reference to Newton's Laws in a basketball situation. He would always use examples from sports to demonstrate various physics principles.

There is a women d-1 camp in conjunction with this tournament. I asked one of the observers and she said officials have addressed this but they are still legal as of right now.

Hotels.com's Captain Obvious ...
 

... and boom goes the dynamite.

We're discussing this (below)? Right?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21icQgUZG1L.jpg

I thought headbands had to be "unadorned"

Like this Billy, in regards to how it hangs: http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.6080...=1&p=0&pid=1.7

And A Ponytail Hangin' Down (The Big Bopper) ...
 

Beauty, being subjective, is in the eye of the beholder.

If it were a single, legal, color, I wouldn't think twice about allowing this in my game. It's no more unsafe than "a ponytail hangin' down" and we've all allowed ponytails in our games. I'm tougher than most in enforcing Fashion Police rules, and this wouldn't even make a blip on my radar screen.

I'm not arguing that it's legal, but I will disagree with your ponytail reasoning. That has nothing to do with this.

I now know that the Karate Kid headband is legal.

But since you are making ponytail and headbands equivalent, how long would you let the tail of the headband hang? To the shoulders; mid-back; rear end?

And of course, in a boy's game, would make the same allowances, correct?

One may argue that 3-5-4b would be used to rule the headband in the photo above illegal as the headband now extends beyond the maximum 2 inches.

I interpret the two inch maximum in 3-5-4b to be referring to WIDTH of said headband.

Plus is that thing really black, white, beige, or a team color??

I don't have the rule book in front of me, but when it comes to headbands the only limitations I know of involve color. There's nothing that says part of it can't hang like this one does.

Therefore, outside of color, the only reason I can see not allowing a player to play with it on (we've been taught to NEVER request a player remove something, only to tell them they can't play with it on*) would be if there was a bead or other hard substance that could be a real safety issue.

By the way, I use the word "real" because there's a better chance that a player were to get poked in the eye by an opponent's finger rather than the two inches of fabric hanging from this headband.

*this is a legal issue, as apparently players have been told to remove something and some type of medical issue ensued. So by telling a player they simply can't play with it on an official is not telling them to remove something that may be vital to said player's health, thus avoiding legal trouble.

Two Sides Of A Coin ...
 

I can certainly see your point, headbands are equipment, and fall under equipment rules, and ponytails aren't equipment.

But "nothing" is going a little to far.

Both fall under safety guidelines (different guidelines, but both have to do with player safety, that's what they have in common, safety). If the officials believe that equipment, hair, or fingernails, are unsafe, then they can remove that player from the game, at least until the problem is rectified.

In my opinion, the cloth ends of a headband create the same danger as flowing hair. If an official lets a player play with long hair, then that official should let another player play with cloth ends on a headband.

What's Good For The Goose Is Good For The Gander ...
 

As long as I believe that the hair, or the headband cloth ends, don't create a player safety issue. Nobody in my game is going to be tripping over a piece of cloth at the end of a headband, or a very long ponytail.

Same for boys.

Not That Simple ...
 

Number, width, logos?

I'm sorry, I should have been more specific. I was only speaking in terms of OP, which didn't seem to bring the number, width, and logo into question. Although the color of the headband could have been a problem.

Correct, I was only addressing the hanging tail of the headband.

The pic I posted was only to show an example of the length, not the various colors.

Is a logo legal on a headband?

3-6 ...
 

ART. 1 One visible manufacturer’s logo/trademark/reference or school
logo/mascot is permitted on the wristbands, headband, compression shorts and
arm compression sleeve. (3-5-3, 3-5-4, 3-5-7).

ART. 2 The size shall be limited to 2¼ square inches and shall not exceed
2¼ inches in any dimension on any item.

I was able to personally see and discuss with BNR what he's brought up in this thread.

Irrespective of the legality or not of the equipment in question here, the discussion, as far as head color, width, color, etc is everything I hate being fashion police. Safety issues I can buy (and I'm not sure it applies here). But color, width, height, length, logo...in practice, we shouldn't be responsible for IMO.