Lanyardless ...
 

Odd. We have more than just a few lanyardless officials here. Why wouldn't they allow this in Illinois?

Not only are you strongly discouraged to wear a belt, you might not get hired or get fired if you wear a belt. It is that simple. The state has nearly 6000 officials, they do not care what officials do at all levels, but they certainly do not hire official at all for regular season games. And there are no association that do any assigning (like around the country) and the IHSA is not going to give a darn what people wear in a freshman B game in a small town.

Peace

The uniform requirement in Wisconsin is "beltless slacks." This doesn't stop some people (mostly subvarsity) from wearing belts, but when I watched the rules video and this was mentioned, I thought of Billy.

All right kids. Play nice! ;)

MTD, Sr.

Good advice, having a whistle that can be heard. Were people using dog whistles? :)

I think they mean don't swallow your whistle. :D

Not sure how things operate in Champaign, but in Chicago you if you don't wear a lanyard, you are not going to be getting any varsity games. It has nothing to do with what the state says, and everything to do with what the assignment chairs say. Also, in almost every college conference I work and many of the college camps I have been to, you are told to use a lanyard. Again, it is what the assignors expect. There are lots of things I don't like doing, but when my boss tells me to do them, I can either follow his advice or find a new line of work. Besides, I have much more important things to worry about than being forced to use a lanyard.

And My Pants Would Fall Down ...
 

It would certainly stop me. I do what my assigner, and my interpreter, tell me to do. Plus, we still have peer ratings here (soon to be done away with).

When In Illinois ...
 

Great advice if I plan to move to Illinois (or any other state) but I don't, so I'll just do what is expected of me in Connecticut as long as I officiate here. If they change the uniform guidelines in Connecticut, you'll be the first to know, followed by me purchasing beltless pants.

I am working on designing a special message filter for any text string containing "belt" or "belts" for this forum.

Then why did you even mention what Illinois had written down? We know you are not moving.

Peace

If it ever becomes an issue I may have to 're-evaluate my stance. IMO a coach wants a fit competent referee. It gets mentioned at camps as well. At this time it has not held me back from getting varsity assignments. For me Officiating basketball is a passion not a job. I haven't used a lanyard in around 20 years. If I ever get back to small college basketball again I will probably have to change. Until then I choose not to. Right now the military takes up most of my time. As an independent contractor I can choose my assignments and they can choose not to hire me.

Belts and Lanyards ???
 

Because I found it interesting.

Billy and Jeff!!
 

Boys!! Lets play nice!

This thread was supposed to be another one of my light hearted threads because when it comes to rules discussions I can be a very difficult person to deal with when I am correct, ;); even when I am incorrect about being incorrect, ;).

MTD, Sr.

P.S. I don't want to have to report the two of you to Santa so close to Christmas.