T For Illegal Jerseys?
 

I was at the AAU national tourney yesterday. In at least two games the game started with multiple FTs being shot due to the opponent having illegal jerseys. I think the issue is they were not white.

I haven't officiated in a few years so I went looking for any wording on that in my old books. Can't find it.

One game started with 10 FTs and the other started with 16 FTs.

Can someone give me some clarity on what may have occurred.

Thanks

I did find something online from 2013. Says it's a direct T to the coach. I assume it's only 1 T regardless of how many illegal jerseys, correct?

Correct, as per 10-5-4.
PENALTY says, "Only one techinical foul is charged regardless the number of offenders.
Bad part for the violating team is that it's a direct on the coach, so when you ask, "Are your players properly and legally equipped?" and he says "Yes", and they're not. . . .

Thanks. Same in college? I ask because I think this tourney was using college rules.

When the rule first changed, the penalty was free throws for each violation. The change to only one direct T to the head coach occurred a couple of seasons ago. Maybe these officials didn't get that memo.

Others can best answer that correctly.

They gave a crap about illegal jerseys in an AAU tourney? Yikes.

Say It Isn't So, Ethyl
 

If so, there might be hope for the world yet. :rolleyes:

I wouldn't give a crap either. The only games that officially use NFHS rules are produced by those schools and organizations which pay to be members. All other games simply use them as "general basketball rules". AAU wants to play, not fuss over illegal numbers.

If it's a national tournament, most definitely.

We can't complain when AAU is rag tag, then complain if they care about the rules. (Even though they enforced it wrong)

Is there some directive to give a T for this? I have yet to ever have anyone in AAU make any complaint or suggestion that this should be called. Maybe at the national tournament it is an issue, but every other tournament I see many jerseys that are not exactly illegal if we go be the rules standard.

And yes I am an expert with all the crap the IHSA put us through with jerseys. ;)

Peace

Typically, it comes down to those who hire the officials.

I've officiated many an off-season game and scrimmage where illegal uniform rulings would never be considered. If IAABO assigns me, though, my instruction is to do my job and rule on it (save the typical Y-league game).

I believe I've told this story one here already: I had a middle school pair (girls, then boys) at the season's beginning. As I'm checking the book for the first game, I noticed what I should have noticed during warmups: the home team had numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9. (The principal ordered international numbers. He said he was a "hockey guy" and didn't know.) The coach, who played college ball, grumbled, not at me, but at the school for ordering them. ("I told them!")

Our instructions are to tape such numbers to make them legal, and while I was trying to figure out how in the hell you make such things happen with 6, 7, 8, AND 9, the coach says, "we have the old ones in the locker room." Beautiful! Problem solved, and the second game followed suit.

Yes, there are those that wouldn't have bothered with what I did. But I wouldn't be following boss's orders, and just as important, I would have made it the next crew's problem, who would also have the additional complaint, "but the last refs said it was okay!" Sometimes, you have to deal with dreck to save the sanity of your cohorts.

I agree, but for this piece, typically AAU does not make an issue out of jerseys and the legality to the rules adopted for that particular tournament. I am sure that there are some places, but you just do not see this will all the teams across the country that come to certain places and their behavior about these kinds of issues. AAU is such a mixed bag of expectations and standards that it is often you hear a coach tell you they were not aware or act surprised when you enforce even regular playing rules. It is basically the wild, wild west.

Peace

I worked an AAU national tournament a week ago. I recall reading their rule deviations from the Fed (which is what they use as their primary rule set). From the AAU website, Rule IV, Section G. regarding National Tournaments:

1. Players' jerseys must have numbers on both the front and back.
2. Numbers can be 00-99.
3. Minimum size of numbers shall be 2" on the front and 4" on the back.
4. Teams competing in National Championship tournaments must have white and dark jerseys.
5. Home wears White jerseys and Visitor wears Dark jerseys.
6. The top/left team on the schedule shall be the home team and sit on the scorekeepers’ left.
7. The bottom/right team on the schedule shall be the visiting team and sit on the scorekeepers’
right.
8. Violation of Section G.5. shall be penalized by a two (2) shot administrative technical foul for each illegal jersey. The penalty will be assessed at the time the player with the illegal jersey enters the game.

I'm guessing the national administrator at the game site insisted that it be enforced as written. Before anyone asks: http://image.aausports.org/handbooks...L-HANDBOOK.pdf

Thanks BZ, now that you bring it up, I remember that happening here once.