Over the last 2 days had three girls wearing tape over newly pierced ears. Of course, I made them take them out.
We all have heard the excuse "I thought it was OK to put tape over our earrings". I been calling ASA for over five years and I can't ever remember the idea of being able to put tape over the earrings being in the rulebook.

Was it ever OK? If not, were did this silly idea come from?

Definetly has to come out in NFHS. In ASA it is left up to the umpire to determine if the jewelry creates a safety hazzard. I have done several ASA tourneys where the UIC has stated not to allow any jewelry though. I say when in doubt it comes out.

I think you will find it in rule 3 someplace. My book is packed so I do not have the exact reference.

You are correct; putting tape over earrings is not spelled out in the rulebook. But, the standard philosphy is that if you (as an umpire) see a player with tape on her ears, and never see her with earrings on, should you make the leap of faith that she has earrings underneath? Frankly, is it any of your business, any more than to ask to see navel rings or other hidden piercings? Are we looking for trouble? As far as I know, she has matching mosquito bites.

Further, since you never saw jewelry, it couldn't be dangerous in your judgment. If the player gets hurt, you have a fairly solid defense that 1) you never saw jewelry, 2) it couldn't be subject of your judgment, because 3) the player and those responsible for her allowed her to hide it from you.

My philosphy is that I won't attempt to guess what is under the tape or bandaids. But, if a player walks on the field with earrings or other visible and potentially dangerous jewelry, and I tell her to take them off, they must come off; in that case, I can't NOT assume the tape is covering jewelry.

I just asked them if they had earrings on under the tape and they said that they did. I told them if they didn't come out, she couldn't come out. I also asked the coaches in pre-game if their players are legally equiped and all the jewelry is off.

I was just trying to find out where the idea of taping over them came from.

It comes from the "you cannot call what you cannot see" theory. Like Steve noted, all you see is tape. As far as I'm concerned, there is no rule forbidding tape on one's ears. For that matter, (speaking ASA) the is no rule absolutely forbidding jewelry.

I am not a player's mother. If the player is old enough to have pierced ears, and obviously a player's parent/guardian would be aware this individual is participating in a competitive sport with this jewelry on, who am I to circumvent their parental authority unless there is a danger to another participant in the game.

I look for jewelry on the arms, wrists and hands. Other than that, it's the player's game, not mine.

Earlier this spring I had a 16u batter suddenly start searching in the batter's box for her navel ring. Aware that she shouldn't hold up the game, she immediately continued with her at bat and then sifted through the dust between innings (and found her ring).

Oh come on.........
I know Fed ball can be a pain sometimes but the jewelry issue is one where Federation is ahead of ASA.
No jewelry allowed at all.

I tend to agree with Mike/Irish on this one. What's it going to hurt that the girl has a pair of studs in her ear? "In my judgement," studs are not a safety issue.

Now before I go on, I'm sure there will be people saying "what about if she gets swipe-tagged and the glove catches the stud, etc etc." Well, she better have a helmet on at that point, so it's moot. How is it a safety issue on defense? I've seen more issues related to balls hitting players in the face than I have any issue with their ears.

Now hooped earrings - different story. I'll make SP adults take those out... actually DID see a hoop earring get pulled out of an ear on a tag in a SP game... bloddy mess. I don't care if they are adults... I don't want anyone to go through what the lady who had it pulled out did. Ouch.

Scott,

You know as well as I that there is no comparison between the two associations. Even though NFHS is used by leagues outside High School ball, it is based on the premise that it is addressing High School play.

A child partaking in an extracurricular activity through any school is under the protective arm of that institution which is responsible for the student.

ASA is not an educational institution. Though often considered a service, the teams which play ASA softball are not baby sitters or legal guardians and have no legal standing concerning the child's well being outside of the realm of the agreed establishment of that team or softball organization.

Wait a minute, are we talking fast pitch youth or slow pitch adults?

hehehe

[Edited by scottk_61 on Aug 1st, 2005 at 10:01 AM]

This tape thing has been going on for years and years. When I was in high school back in the 1980's (showin' my age here), a bunch of girls taped their pierced ears. Some refs let it fly, others didn't.

But in this day and age, we have to check ears, eye brows, belly buttons, tongues, and....um....other parts, too.

Diana

Same old story:
ASA - umpire judgement about danger
NFHS - no visible jewelry

Either case, we should not require removal, just prevent playing with it if not allowed.

And the difference is?

Removal might be injurious either physically or psychologically. The correct procedure is saying the player can not play with the jewelry, illegal equipment, anything not allowed and letting them make the decision to conform or not play.

Jewelry in NCAA
 

Last year the NCAA put it on the Coaches back. If you saw any college games on TV, etc. every girl on the field now has on ear rings, nose piercings, bracelets, etc. As an umpire you just ignore it. I don't know if anyone was injured because of this. Several years ago (before this was legal) I was umpiring a college game and made a catcher take a nose piercing out. She wanted to do just what has been described in this thread.......tape it. How do you tape a nose stud? Anyway, about the 4th or 5th inning she was involved in a collision at the plate without her head gear and her nose got busted. I just wonder what would have occured if the piercing had still been in her nose. Kids are so stupid....or should I say young adults in this case.