2019 NFHS Rule Changes

[Mountaincoach]

Originally Posted by Altor

I just Googled this because I was wondering the same thing. The apparent reasoning is that medical personnel cannot see the athlete's eyes in the case of possible head trauma without removing the helmet. I guess they believe sunglasses could be removed without removing the helmet(?).

Wow. Thanks. Well, I AM a physician (when I'm not standing on a ballfield), and I say that is being WAY too picky. If the injury is that severe to begin with, I'm gonna take a pair of scissors (or a pocket knife in a steady hand) and cut the 4 fabric straps to the mask and simply remove it from the front of the kid's face without having to move her neck or anything else. Just shaking my head. So my next question is this--does the federation allow high school football players to wear tinted visors?

[Big Slick]

Originally Posted by Mountaincoach

Wow. Thanks. Well, I AM a physician (when I'm not standing on a ballfield), and I say that is being WAY too picky. If the injury is that severe to begin with, I'm gonna take a pair of scissors (or a pocket knife in a steady hand) and cut the 4 fabric straps to the mask and simply remove it from the front of the kid's face without having to move her neck or anything else. Just shaking my head. So my next question is this--does the federation allow high school football players to wear tinted visors?

No, it is a standard rule across all NFHS sports. No tinted face shields. IMPO, this is overkill. In football and softball, the facemask can be removed via a trusty screwdriver.

[falsecut]

Yeah, what's always fun is when you tell the kid he has to remove it in football and people run around trying to find that screw driver to pull the visor out to make the equipment ready to play. I think that it's more than medical personnel being able to see the eyes, it's also the officials since we are supposed to be watching for signs of a concussion. Also if the kid is unconscious, you might want to be able to see if his eyes are rolled up into his head.

I'm not any sort of trained medical personnel but those are reasons I've heard expressed. Sunglasses are just easier to remove. FWIW.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Mountaincoach

Wow. Thanks. Well, I AM a physician (when I'm not standing on a ballfield), and I say that is being WAY too picky. If the injury is that severe to begin with, I'm gonna take a pair of scissors (or a pocket knife in a steady hand) and cut the 4 fabric straps to the mask and simply remove it from the front of the kid's face without having to move her neck or anything else. Just shaking my head. So my next question is this--does the federation allow high school football players to wear tinted visors?

This is NOT a new rule, it has been in place for batters, and as BS noted, all NFHS sports for a few years now.

The concern as it was explained in a HS clinic some years ago was they wanted medical personnel to have a clear view of the player's eyes without risking further injury to the back/neck/etc. if they needed to manipulate or remove the headgear to do so.