Illegal number
 

Had a situation in a middle school game last week where a player was in the game wearing #6. Did not notice this until we called a foul on him in the 4th quarter. In reading 3.4.3 situation B in the case book, it appears that there is no penalty until A6 enters the game as a player. However, in the interest of preventative officiating, is this something you would look for when checking the book pregame? I'm wondering if a technical foul could have been prevented if we had noticed him listed as #6 in the book before the game. (Then again, if he's listed with an illegal number after the 10:00 mark and it's then changed, it's a technical foul anyway.)

Or is this a booger not worth picking in a 7th-grade game? Just looking for input. Players wearing illegal numbers is something I've never actually seen in a scholastic game and it's never really occurred to me to check for that in the book.

At that age level I'm not surprised that a player is wearing an illegal number. Heck, if their uniforms match it's a bit surprising. So while preventing such a thing by checking the numbers in the book during warm-ups (and before the 10:00 mark) may be a good idea, chances are the team didn't have a choice. And I'm not going to stop a player from playing the game at that age level.

In MS, yes.

I don't really work that level anymore, but I would enforce the rule, here at a MS team.

Now, if it was a non-school team of middle-school-aged players, that's a different story.

Just for information - here in our local kids rec league, the league orders all the jerseys (T-shirts), so even the third grade boys and girls wear legal numbers.

I got in trouble once when I was being observed and used two hands to report a number '6' on one team. It was during the summer and not something to call a tech. I tried asking my observer how else to report a number '6' but he didn't care. :mad:

Your observer must have polydactyly.

Smarty pants.:)

It's one of the major reasons you are checking the book.

Would you mind detailing what you do when you check the book?

Sign Language.

Check local listings. The enforcement of this rule is going to vary by area at the middle school level.

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I had the same situation. If memory serves, the number was 7 or 8. I didn't bother to say anything. I didn't feel that it was worth it. I know and trust my reporting mechanics. Plus, the observer didn't notice the entire play sequence. That comment just went in one ear and out the other.

I worked a Varsity game for the local dead school last year. Their provided scorer was also deaf so someone taught me the signs for 'white' and 'black' which I used when reporting fouls and timeouts. That was an interesting game to say the least.

Are you from Illinois?
 

Do they vote too? :eek: