Legal Jersey

[bigjohn]

[bigjohn]

most state champs are wearing illegal numbers

http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/ohsaa-state-football-championship-weekend-2015-video-highlights-120815

[Atlanta Blue]

Only the last one (of the first set, Holy Name, with the black drop shadow), would be illegal.  The others are a continuous color that contrasts with the jersey.  Nothing says those contrasting numbers can't also have a border.

None of the rest of them are illegal.  You are assuming a contrasting number can't also have a border.  Nothing prohibits that.  If the number is the same color as the jersey, then the border is required. 

[bigjohn]

The body of the number shall be either
a) a continuous color(s) contrasting with the jersey color, or
b) the same solid color(s) as the jersey with a minimum of one border that is at least 1/4-inch in width of a single solid contrasting color.


The way it reads is a number with a border must be the same color as the jersey, how could a number with a border be continuous?

Why does the NFHS use the word continuous color? why not solid?  Not sure what a continuous color is.

[Atlanta Blue]

The way it reads is a number with a border must be the same color as the jersey,

IF the number is the same color as the jersey, it must have a border.  It says nothing about a number with a border having to be the same color as a jersey.  The rule is not transitive. 

Why does the NFHS use the word continuous color? why not solid?  Not sure what a continuous color is.

Continuous is not striped, shaded, etc. 

Why "continuous" and not "solid"?  Now, I have no idea.

[bigjohn]

con·tin·u·ous

forming an unbroken whole; without interruption.

So to me the border is broken and not part of the whole but hell what do I know!

[HLinNC]

What is wrong with them, Bigjohn?

a) a continuous color(s) contrasting with the jersey color, or

[bama_stripes]

Those all look legal to me:

"a) a continuous color(s) contrasting with the jersey color"

[bigjohn]

they have a border, I know it is ok by interpretation but to me a: should say solid number with or without a border. To me the rule is very unclear.

[Rulesman]

they have a border, I know it is ok by interpretation but to me a: should say solid number with or without a border. To me the rule is very unclear.

If you understand intent, how can it be unclear?

[VALJ]

Let's boil this down to the essential here...  Is any one of us going to refuse to play a game because the number on the jersey doesn't meet specifications? 

Report this to your assigner, and let him decide if it should be reported to the state. If the state doesn't tell a team that the jerseys are illegal, by interpretation they've decided that the jerseys ARE legal.

[bama_stripes]

Let's boil this down to the essential here...

The essential is:

Can the opponent and officials easily tell at a glance what the number is?

[Atlanta Blue]

The essential is:

Can the opponent and officials easily tell at a glance what the number is?

Not quite that easy, as there are legal jerseys that are almost impossible to read the numbers.

The FED rule in this case is terrible compared to the NCAA rule:

The jersey must have clearly visible, permanent Arabic numerals measuring
at least 8 and 10 inches in height front and back, respectively. The number must
be of a color that itself is clearly in distinct contrast with the color of the jersey,
irrespective of any border around the number.

No "same color as the jersey" numbers, regardless of the border.

[bigjohn]

Even if reported there will be no action. Legal numbers or illegal jerseys have never resulted in any kind of penalty that I know of!

[bigjohn]

except California! any other states do this?

http://www.cifns.org/Announcements/2011-2012/FB%20Jersey%20Memo%20-%202012.pdf

1. Varsity Only – The State CIF has determined that this rule is applicable to Varsity
team competition only. Sub-varsity teams are not subject to the provision of this rule.
2. Non-Compliance – The State CIF has also determined that teams that do not comply
with the rule will be penalized in the following manner in each and every game:
At the pre-game conference between the Referee and the Head Coach, as required
by current NFHS rules, the Referee will ask the Coach if his team is properly
equipped; after the Coach’s response, the Referee will inform the Coach that,
under NFHS rules, his team is not in legal uniform and that he intends to call a
15-yard Unsportsmanlike Conduct foul on the Coach prior to the start of the
contest. Coaches should also be reminded that if any subsequent
Unsportsmanlike Conduct foul is called on him during the contest, he will be
disqualified from the game.
After the game, the Referee should notify the office of the CIF-Section in which
the offending school is located that the team’s uniforms are out of compliance
with NFHS rules. The section will then notify the school that they must be
compliant with this rule by the start of the 2013 season or they may not be
allowed to play with the illegal uniforms.

[VALJ]

The essential is:

Can the opponent and officials easily tell at a glance what the number is?

I agree.  But are we going to not play a game because of it? Short of making the home team change their jersey, and odds are that the home team also has a border around their number nowadays. Plus, if the home team's other jerseys are white to begin with, as they should be - what are we realistically going to do?

Even if reported there will be no action. Legal numbers or illegal jerseys have never resulted in any kind of penalty that I know of!

Nor I, John. But ultimately it's going to be up to the state to do something about it.  Me on the field Friday night? Not a whole lot I can do.

[Atlanta Blue]

odds are that the home team also has a border around their number nowadays.

Borders around numbers are LEGAL!  Nothing prohibits borders around the numbers. Numbers that are the same color as the jersey REQUIRE a border.  But numbers that are a contrasting color of the jersey have no rule about borders, so they are allowed.

[bigjohn]

That is your opinion AB, 


http://www.latimes.com/sports/highschool/varsity-times/la-sp-vi-it-s-time-to-rid-football-of-invisible-jersey-numbers-20151002-story.html

[bigjohn]

http://www.ncfoa.org/uniforms-NFHS.pdf

I found this which is a good thing to have.

[Atlanta Blue]

That is your opinion AB,

I was there!  In my earlier life, I was the Director of Research for the company that owned Russell Athletic, at that time, the largest supplier of high school uniforms in the country.

The current rules are actually version 2 of the rules.  The original version, dubbed the "Miami" rule, was to try to abolish all of the abominations that the U was putting on the field with Nike, including stripes that went from your butt to over your shoulders.  The original rules were so restrictive, that most of the color piping or white piping you see now would have been illegal.  Teams hated the rules, manufacturers hated the rules, and a revolt happened.  Uniform rules are written 4 years ahead of time, to allow teams to cycle through their current uniforms that might not meet the rules.  So before the 2008 rules went into effect, the major manufacturers (except Nike), along with what was then called the SGMA (Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, a trade association/lobbying group) went to the NFHS with alternative rules.  What you see now was the compromise worked out between the manufacturers and the NFHS.  Had the NFHS had their way, Penn State's uniforms would have been too ornate.

Of course, all of these rules were written before the proliferation of sublimated printing.  At the time of the rules, the major high school suppliers (Russell, Wilson, Rawlings), the major suppliers that were a small part of high school (Adidas, Under Armour) and the mid-majors (Sportsbelle, etc) were willing to play within the rules, and let teams know if what they were ordering wasn't legal (notice I did not include Nike in the group that was willing to play nice).  In fact, at Russell, if a school wanted to order a jersey we didn't think was legal, we made them sign a waiver.  These days, any fool with a credit card can order these abysmally decorated fabrics from printers in China, and sell uniforms to schools with no concept of legal vs illegal.  And there are plenty of coaches willing to buy them.

[bigjohn]

Hope you know I am kidding AB, I don't question your knowledge of this subject just funny that I have created some doubt. 

[VALJ]

My point was that for those of us on the field on Friday nights, there's no action that we're going to take that directly affects that night.  We're still going to play the games regardless of whether one of the teams is wearing a jersey with a stripe where it shouldn't be. Report it to the state, and move on.

[HLinNC]

Several seasons ago, one of our R's made the home team go in and change their alternate silvery-gray jerseys to their more traditional home royalish-blue.  He deemed the silvery-gray jerseys too close to the visiting team's white.

There was some wailing and gnashing of teeth but they eventually went inside and put on their home blues and peace was restored to the kingdom

[Ralph Damren]

AS A MEMBER OF THE UNIFORM POLICE

IT BECOMES MY DUTY TO....

   (1) BE ABLE TO READ THE NUMBERS;
   (2) BE ABLE TO TELL THE TEAMS APART;
   (3) BE ABLE NOT TO LOOK FOR FLY POOP IN THE PEPPER SHAKER;
   (4) BE ABLE TO CONTACT THE PROPER AUTHORITIES THE NEXT DAY,IF:
         (A) SOMETHING IS TOO WIDE;
         (B) SOMETHING IS TOO NARROW;
         (C) SOMETHING IS TOO LONG;
         (D) SOMETHING IS TOO SHORT.

PLAY BALL!!!

[AlUpstateNY]

Several seasons ago, one of our R's made the home team go in and change their alternate silvery-gray jerseys to their more traditional home royalish-blue.  He deemed the silvery-gray jerseys too close to the visiting team's white. There was some wailing and gnashing of teeth but they eventually went inside and put on their home blues and peace was restored to the kingdom 

"Weeping & gnashing of teeth" aside, the villain here was the Coach, who is responsible to KNOW the difference between being "at home" or "away" and the rules about dressing accordingly. 

Protesting the decision (to correct his foolishness) too vigorously could well have earned him a reserved seat in the locker room (or parking lot) to listen to the game.