Contrasting Colors - Player vs Libero Uniforms
 

Hi all,

We seem to have great difficulty getting coaches and some officials to understand what contrasting colors are, regarding regular player vs libero uniforms.

In the last few weeks, I have had coaches get rather rude when told that their white uniforms and their yellow libero uniform are not contrasting. Similarly, when their forest green (players) vs dark gray (libero) uniforms are not legal.

I recently worked a match where the team (from out of my area) claimed that their light gray (players) vs light pink (libero) uniforms "had been worn all year" and were miffed that we weren't going to allow it.

Since so few (both coaches and officials) seem to grasp the concept of contrasting, how does your association or region promote consistency with this?

- Tim

To me, "contrasting" just means that they're easily distinguishable. I'm pretty sure I can tell white from yellow and gray from dark green.

Is there some other concept of "contrasting" that you're saying I should be using?

It depends. Being able to "tell the difference" can depends on a lot of variables. Sure, you might be able to tell the difference right away, but during a bang-bang play, can you immediately tell that was the libero, as opposed to another player, who finger set that ball and be able to make other judgments that you need to make on short notice, without having to linger and think about whether or not that was the libero?

Things I try to take into acccount:

Can I tell where the libero is out of my peripheral vision? That's pretty contrasting. If I can't immediately tell where the libero is in my peripheral vision, the jersey might not be very contrasting.

If we took the color of the regular player's jersey, and made it the number of the libero player's jersey, without an outline (or vice versa), would I be able to see that number easily? If so, then yes, that's contrasting (I mean, that's the uniform number requirement, right?). If not, then there may be a contrast issue.

I have also found over the years that there are just going to be times when I accept less contrast than I like.

That's an interesting perspective that I hadn't considered. I'm not sure it's convincing to me, but I see the point. If it's clearly distinguishable from the other team jerseys, it seems to me that should be enough to make those judgments. But I take your point that the MORE distinctive it is, the easier it is to make those judgments.

I'm not sure the rule says it has to be "very contrasting". :)

Too often referees assess whether they can tell the difference while staring at the jerseys and thinking about if they can see the difference.

In a match, we don't have that luxury to stare and think about it. You have to KNOW. The more contrast there is, the easier it is to know. Simply being able to tell the difference while starting at them during warmups...just might not be enough.

I like Felix's test. If the number on the team jersey, without an outline, was the color of the Libero's Jersey, would the jersey be legal?