Nit-picking question

[RoyGardner]

Are we sure that we're actually looking at ordinary sweat bands and not one of the various patella bands (for the knees) or elbow bands that are becoming popular to help support certain types of mild strains of the elbow? Unless you take a close look at these some of them could be easily mistaken for sweat bands.

[PSU213]

Originally Posted by RoyGardner

Are we sure that we're actually looking at ordinary sweat bands and not one of the various patella bands (for the knees) or elbow bands that are becoming popular to help support certain types of mild strains of the elbow? Unless you take a close look at these some of them could be easily mistaken for sweat bands.

We try to catch them before the game--i.e. if we see a player on the bench with an 'improperly' placed sweat band, we will tell him to remove it before he even gets on the field. We did have one situation where we said this to a player, the coach responded "oh, that's for an injury" and at that point we let it go.

[grantsrc]

I hate playing fashion police. I wish the Fed would make specific statements regarding the legality of each piece of equipment/adornment. Print off the picture, take it to the field, show the coach, and tell them to fix them. (I know we can't do that but wouldn't it be nice?)

It stinks because we are always the bad guys when we tell the kid he can't wear his UA band up around his bicep like they do on TV.

[Blue37]

Originally Posted by grantsrc

I hate playing fashion police. I wish the Fed would make specific statements regarding the legality of each piece of equipment/adornment. Print off the picture, take it to the field, show the coach, and tell them to fix them. (I know we can't do that but wouldn't it be nice?)

It stinks because we are always the bad guys when we tell the kid he can't wear his UA band up around his bicep like they do on TV.

Grant,

We had such a picture at our state meeting before the season. The player had bands on his bicep, his leg, and around his neck. The word "illegal" was on the picture with arrows drawn to all three bands.

I think it was a Fed picture, but it might have been prepared by the State.

[Matt-MI]

Blue37

We saw the same picture at our state meeting.

[ljudge]

When they first started wearing the UA bands one caught caught on another player's facemask in making a tackle. It happened during a pre-season scrimmage. Our chapter nipped this in the bud very quickly.

This really happened!

Of course then it becomes a safety concern and we simply refer to the specific situation and coaches understand. I specifically mention the school it happened to and when it happened and they fully comply without much resistance, if any.

[grantsrc]

Originally Posted by Blue37

Grant,

We had such a picture at our state meeting before the season. The player had bands on his bicep, his leg, and around his neck. The word "illegal" was on the picture with arrows drawn to all three bands.

I think it was a Fed picture, but it might have been prepared by the State.

Now that you mention it, we might have seen the same picture too. I'm always a day late and a dollar short.

[jaybird]

Originally Posted by Blue37

Grant,

We had such a picture at our state meeting before the season. The player had bands on his bicep, his leg, and around his neck. The word "illegal" was on the picture with arrows drawn to all three bands.

I think it was a Fed picture, but it might have been prepared by the State.

It is a NFHS picture presented in the pre-season meetings regarding rules changes and POE. We saw the same picture.

We saw the same picture at our meeting with the state as well. Some of jokingly started acting like boyz from the hood just to get a good laugh, but we knew seriously what we were going to watch out for.

[RoyGardner]

I only do NCAA rules games, but I'm not sure I want to be trying to figure out if the "bands" the guys wearing are just sweatbands or are legitimate orthopedic supports. If you take a look at www.kneeshop.com and look at the knee or patella bands (worn just below the knee) and elbow support products (worn just below the elbow) there's no obvious difference on a lot of them. And it's always been my understanding that any braces, supports, etc. that do not create a safety hazard for either the player or his opponent are legal. I really don't want to be the fashion police, just verify that any "additional equipment" does not create a safety hazard and is not expressly prohibited in the rules.

[kdf5]

Originally Posted by grantsrc

I hate playing fashion police. I wish the Fed would make specific statements regarding the legality of each piece of equipment/adornment. Print off the picture, take it to the field, show the coach, and tell them to fix them. (I know we can't do that but wouldn't it be nice?)

It stinks because we are always the bad guys when we tell the kid he can't wear his UA band up around his bicep like they do on TV.

We're not the bad guys. Coaches need to take responsibility for knowing the rules. We're simply doing the job he isn't.