Do you have matching socks?!?!

[USDLAX5]

so what is the verdict with the socks, does everyone have to match?
i've never played without the red knee high socks, and there is no way i'm wearing the cat in the hat socks that Jesse wears.

[Kyle Berggren]

I'm not trying to attack your officials in anyway, but they shouldn't be making their own rules up as they go. If its in the book , it should be followed, things stay uniform that way, and our governing body decided on those rules. One year, in a place far far away, a very close game was played. I asked an official if a players equipment was legal (as in gloves, they were blue, and the teams were black or vice versa), and an official told me, "if you want me to call it tight, I will, but you won't like the outcome." Now, maybe I'm an *** for pointing that out, but I get players from all over the country, with different color equipment every year. I make sure my players buck up, after fundraising, and paying dues, they still need to get the proper gear. It's too bad its a rule, but it is, we pay for it, why should others not? We're not debating the rules, just trying to enforce them. Pregame I have to certify my players are equiped by rule, I won't lie about it. We even check for that safety sticker on the back of our helmets preseason. Sometimes they get rubbed off, and then the helmet isn't legal.... Sucks, but rules are rules, or should we treat it like speeding....?

[Campbell]

Although it is not specifically in the rules regarding socks, I would imagine the intent of the rules governing personal equipment is that a team will all match so that they look like a team. So I guess it all boils down to how far you want to push that with the refs. If the ref calls it on the field they are most likely NOT going to overturn their decision and your team will get a penalty. You can complain about it later to your ref coordinator or conference head, but that wont remove the penalty you had to suffer during the game.

When I have players that want to wear or do crazy things with their equipment, my first question is why? Is it really that important? It just seems counter productive to skirt those fine lines. I had a player who wore one of those clear whitening mouthpiece things (not a mouthpiece at all) and when the refs would call it, he would show them he was wearing a mouthpiece and it was clear. It seemed that everytime he wore it, refs would call it and a big debate would ensue. I told this guy, I dont know how many times, to change it, but the point is, what's big deal with wearing a regular mouthpiece? Its like the socks, whats the big deal about wearing normal or inconspicuous socks?

John Campbell
Head Coach
Texas State Lacrosse