High school softball - legal equipment to wear college logo hat when pitching?
 

Is it legal equipment in NFHS (Ohio) softball for a fielder to wear a hat with a college logo on the front? Last night the opposing pitcher had a red hat with a big, black block "O".

Per 3-2-5, yes it is legal.

ART. 5 . . . Headwear (caps, visors, headbands, ribbons, etc.) may be mixed. If worn, they must be white, black, beige or school colors (the colors are not required to be the same for team members). The logo may be any color. Flat items, no longer than 2 inches, used to control the hair, such as bobby pins, barrettes and hair clips, are permitted. Plastic visors, bandannas and hair-beads are prohibited.

and in obvious good taste, as well

Thank you for the rule book reference. I had read that during the game. What I was not certain about was the reference to "logo" in "The logo may be any color." It was not a logo of her school. It was an Ohio State logo.

Under NFHS Rule 3-2-3, the only restrictions on logos involve the sizes of manufacturer's logos. A player cannot have a hat that has a huge Nike swoosh, for example. Any other kind of logo, such as school letters, mascots, etc., are not restricted.

And it darn well better be an Ohio State logo! LOL! Because the only other acceptable logo would be Youngstown State! Go Penguins!

MTD, Sr.

I'll kick in with the same answer that I gave on the other forum...

For a really nit-picky uniform rule, the uniform may have only one manufacturer's logo. If the jerseys are, say, Under Armour, and the hat is Nike...well, that would be two logos and one of them would have to go. ;)

Better answer...

If it's an Ohio State hat, then it's legal. If, however, it's a Michigan hat, the player is ejected!

Boy, THAT'S really picking nits. I've never bothered to look at players' that closely to see if they have different logos on different uniform parts, especially when things like caps, visors, undershirts and socks are typically personal items. If a coach ever complained to me that the opposing team had Nike shirts and Mizuno pants, I'd ask to see his proof of completing the courses on Concussion in Sports, Fundamentals of Coaching, and Heat Illness Prevention, which is required of coaches in our state. ;)

Let me ask a question of you guys on this subject. For years, I've watched a lot of local coaches and umpires tell little tiny girls "You can't wear that camouflage pattern really bright pink fielder's mask if you pitch when you're older." Have you guys ever had a coach insist that an older (middle school or high school for example) pitcher remove one of those bright potentially-distracting masks and put on a more uniform colored mask? Or maybe they had something distracting attached to the mask? Obviously, most older kids grow out of those crazy masks as they get older, but is this just sort of an urban legend? I've looked at the NFHS rule book, and it just mentions clothing, not the mask.

Yeah, I think that maybe I wouldn't even notice this. But which is crazier- enforcing this rule or the fact that the NFHS even wrote a rule like this in the first place! :eek:

I concur 100%!

MTD, Sr.

The rules typically give umpires the wherewithal to have a pitcher remove something that the umpire feels is distracting. If a coach came to me and said, "Blue, her mask has a camouflage pattern that bothers my batter's," chances are I will let her pitch with it and tell the coach to go away.

Rule: 3-2-3

ART. 3 . . . The school's official uniform (including uniform jersey, and/or pants/shorts/skirts, etc., visible undergarments, socks, stockings, caps and headwear) <b>may bear only a single manufacturer's logo/trademark/reference (partial or whole)</B> that does not exceed 2¼ square inches with no dimension exceeding 2¼ inches on each item.

That is nit-picky ... who cares!

Apparently NFHS