We do not allow cause related changes to uniforms, like pink for breast cancer awareness month, in any sport. Once that stuff gets started, there is absolutely no end to the number of causes that will want special recognition. If a team wants to wear pink, they can wear pink sweat bands, pink shoe laces, etc. but they/the school does not get required to/forced to buy another set of uniforms that only get worn two or three times. And a referee can use a pink whistle if they are so inclined. Ninety eight percent of our high school referees are also USSF referees, so we wear USSF jerseys for high school games. Neither I nor anybody else cares whether there is a USSF logo on the sleeve or how many stripes are on the socks. (Anyone who's tired of hearing me talk about track can ignore the rest of this.) For high school and college track & field (or field and track, as some of us call it), most officials wear their USATF certified official shirt and their USATF badge, as well. (The color of the badge, not just the wording, shows your rank/grade.) About the only exception is the NCAA Championships, where the NCAA gives you a NCAA shirt (not sport specific) for each day of the meet.
The press release from NFHS announcing their changes does make mention of special uniforms. It says, “This change allows home teams to wear their school-color jerseys at home,” said Theresia Wynns, director of sports and officials and liaison to the Soccer Rules Committee. “It also could provide the opportunity to use an alternative color uniform for special events.” To me, that means home teams can get and wear pink jerseys and socks for Breast Cancer Awareness Month without having to get permission from their state association. In my area, most high school soccer referees are not USSF officials; most are high school sports officials who happen to referee soccer in the fall. Of the 100 members in my local high school association about 20 of us are USSF, and in New York, high school soccer officials wear NISOA jerseys. It was hard enough getting the officials to buy the NISOA jerseys in the early 2000; I wonder wha the process for getting them to purchase the new NISOA jerseys will be?
In my area,anyone who is thinking of doing soccer is not diving into HS first as a seasonal official. The new guys here are all USSF guys first, and then HS. The latest seasonal refs are the ones doing field hockey and lacrosse in the fall and spring respectively. Not a great deal of running and NO ONE KNOWS THE RULES! (Especially because boys and girls HS lacrosse are truly two separate sports!)
The Missouri NFHS guys say they have been working on this uniform for a couple of years and that they have been working with other states to use the same jersey. Time will tell if other states join in.
Just to be clear, my comments are applicable to high school in the state of Oregon. While NFHS writes rules for high school sports, they are only model rules. Each state high school association has the option of adopting the NFHS rules for the various sports in their state but they are not required to do so. Washington, for example, does not use NFHS rules for soccer. The 'no pink, or other special color, uniforms' policy is that of the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) and is applicable to all sports under their jurisdiction. (High school lacrosse, water polo and ski racing are not OSAA sports.) No special permission will be granted by OSAA for variation in uniforms.
Yeah....and little bean bags so there's no mistaking advantage! I always threw them at the player who was the biggest pain. I doubt anyone here has suffered from pre-match jitters like I did. 3rd or 4th game ever and my very experienced partner doesn't show for the match between 2 top Prep Schools with a 200 yr rivalry. I miraculously survived unscathed but I still occasionally turn off all the lights in the room and lay in a corner in the fetal position. Ps....not once did I ever hear anyone mention socks!
Hmm... I wonder if anyone at the Missouri NFHS as financial interests in a certain jersey manufacturer.
Who is your source on this? I can't handle all these jersey changes. First USSF, then NISOA, and now possibly high school. Not cool man!
One of the uniform sites has the jersey listed with the Kentucky logo embroidered on the left chest. $44.95 short sleeve, $47.95 long sleeve. Kentucky is only listing the short sleeve version.
Don't be too sure - Georgia tried to put this on us last year, thankfully our organization pushed back http://smittyusadyesub.com/flyers.php?product=ga_soccer