team gloves

[Alex White]

As a coach I think I can live with team glove colors, even if they're not the dominate color. But I don't like the fact that our team has to spend the money for matching gloves, and the referees allow a team to participate with 5 different colored gloves that have nothing to do with the team's designated colors. The thing that really got me was having to pull a starting D-man because his shooting strings were more than 2", and then the ref totally ignoring my pleas about the glove issue. I wish the officials would post a list of rules that are going to be enforced, and rules that are not going to be enforced.

[Jolly Roger]

Report it to your CAA and cc your Conference Director. If that doesn't generate any response, then push it up to your District Governor.

[LaxRef]

As a coach I think I can live with team glove colors, even if they're not the dominate color. But I don't like the fact that our team has to spend the money for matching gloves, and the referees allow a team to participate with 5 different colored gloves that have nothing to do with the team's designated colors. The thing that really got me was having to pull a starting D-man because his shooting strings were more than 2", and then the ref totally ignoring my pleas about the glove issue. I wish the officials would post a list of rules that are going to be enforced, and rules that are not going to be enforced.

All of these issues should preferably be taken care of before the game (long strings, gloves, etc.). And you're right to have taken issue with the refusal to enforce the glove rule.

Probably the best way to do this is to call for an official equipment check on one of the players, specifically pointing out that the gloves do not match. Then, if the official refuses to handle it, report it to the CAA as JollyRoger suggested.

Most assigners know that the coaches and players want consistent officiating and will send out a memo to all of the officials when an issue like this arises. I know I do that a few times a season for high school.

[NinerCoach]

We've had this issue arise twice this season.

Against (team deleted) we were told moments before the game began that we'd need to "fix" the problem or serve a :30 second penalty every time a pair of gloves got on the field. We avoided penalty, but had a good number of players making a mad dash to put green tape on their gloves in time to start the game.

Today again it was brought up, but with a much less threatening demeanor by the official. He told us we could go through the trouble to tape up again, or he'd call the technical on the opening face, give the other team the ball, and drop the issue.

Of course, we playing the SELC finals last year with no mention of it. I'd always assumed that "neutral" colors such as black and white were ok so long as there were no colors that didn't match the team's uniform.

How about this as a further question...

...Our team color is green, so most guys have green or black gloves. Assuming we choose green over black, would white gloves with a significant amount of green trim be considered to conform with the rule?

[LaxRef]

We've had this issue arise twice this season.

Against Elon we were told moments before the game began that we'd need to "fix" the problem or serve a :30 second penalty every time a pair of gloves got on the field. We avoided penalty, but had a good number of players making a mad dash to put green tape on their gloves in time to start the game.

Today again it was brought up, but with a much less threatening demeanor by the official. He told us we could go through the trouble to tape up again, or he'd call the technical on the opening face, give the other team the ball, and drop the issue.

Of course, we playing the SELC finals last year with no mention of it. I'd always assumed that "neutral" colors such as black and white were ok so long as there were no colors that didn't match the team's uniform.

How about this as a further question...

...Our team color is green, so most guys have green or black gloves. Assuming we choose green over black, would white gloves with a significant amount of green trim be considered to conform with the rule?

The opening technical to start the game is the NFHS rule. The NCAA rule is a technical for each occurrence (not necessarily 0:30, since it could just be a possession foul).

Neutral colors are not okay for gloves in NCAA (there's no matching glove rule in NFHS); the dominant color of the gloves must be the same for everyone on the team. So, some guys have solid green gloves and others have green with white trim: legal. But if some guys have gloves that are mostly white with some green trim, illegal.

You are right that this is not enforced consistently, so YMMV.

[Kevin OBrien]

It all seems to be rather inconsistant year to year. A few years ago having mismatched gloves too many times made us ineligible for the championship tourny. This year no one cares. No one really cared about mismatching undershirts and stuff on the road, but our home refs watched us like hawks and warned me "now kevin, you're not really gonna let that guy with a blue shirt on the field like that are you?". Last game of the season, Sunday morning game, other team had gotten ready before us, who cares? This year it seemed to be the strings... It's always been a rule that they have to be 2" or less (as far as I know, although I've been told by all my players and a couple refs that it was new). I understand the new emphasis is to prevent pull strings....thing is my understand of pull strings (although limited, as I'm an old long pole) is that they're at the bottom, not the shooting strings.

[Steno]

So right now our team has blue gloves. Let's say we want yellow or white (our other colors) for next year--is the dominant team color defined by history, or just with whatever color gloves the entire team is wearing?

Sorry about the awkward phrasing of that question - hopefully someone can make sense of it.

[Gross]

My understanding is that the rule has nothing to do with "historical" colors, simply that all the gloves must be the same dominant color. So, in your example, Steno, your team could switch to yellow or white (or even black or green or red) without a problem, assuming that all the gloves share the same "dominant" color.

[LaxRef]

So right now our team has blue gloves. Let's say we want yellow or white (our other colors) for next year--is the dominant team color defined by history, or just with whatever color gloves the entire team is wearing?

Sorry about the awkward phrasing of that question - hopefully someone can make sense of it.

"Team color" is undefined, so basically it comes down to "same dominant color."

[LaxRef]

It's always been a rule that they have to be 2" or less (as far as I know, although I've been told by all my players and a couple refs that it was new). I understand the new emphasis is to prevent pull strings....thing is my understand of pull strings (although limited, as I'm an old long pole) is that they're at the bottom, not the shooting strings.

Used to be 6", and still is in HS. And I think the idea was to not require the officials to be able to determine whether something was a pull string, so they made it easy for us by making it any hanging strings. While you are right that pull strings are usually at the bottom, I wouldn't put it past someone to figure out a way to do it with the shooting strings.

[MountaineerLax]

How about armpads - any rules on the colors of armpads?

We had a couple kids use sharpies on their gloves - took A LOT of sharpies, and even more time. I don't think they ever finished both gloves. Just bought new ones.

[Sonny]

How about armpads - any rules on the colors of armpads?

Nope.

[The_Buddha_Man]

I've seen it done, multiple times. Actually, I've been fortunate enough to be on a team that ordered jerseys with 6" numbers on the front (minimum 8") be called for that as well.... Even seen undershirts called, all against us while I was playing. Fashion violations are so easy to prevent, I'd rather not deal with it.

Ditto, comes down to the officials, the pace of the game, maybe the importance of the game, and the actions/ relationships of opposing coaches.

With the exceptions of the mouth pieces, all equipment checks, explanations, etc should be explained by the officials when they call captains. Those captains should be responsible for informing the coaches and then checking their bench and starters before the game. My point is, if the officials are a bit more relaxed about say... the colors of gloves, than nothing could be mentioned. However, if it's important to them or an important game it should be identified early. Playing a game and winning it because your team out hustled, outplayed, or wanted it more should be the deciding factor of a game. Not the ability of a coach to (as an example) get lucky with 2 minutes left.

Stick checks are a totally different beast....especially in tight games...they should be made...

[Matt_Gardiner]

Kyle Berggren wrote:
I've seen it done, multiple times. Actually, I've been fortunate enough to be on a team that ordered jerseys with 6" numbers on the front (minimum 8") be called for that as well.... Even seen undershirts called, all against us while I was playing. Fashion violations are so easy to prevent, I'd rather not deal with it.

And what exactly is the penalty for the numbers being too small? I thought it was against the rules, but at the same time there is no corresponding punishment.