Jewelry

remove it

I suggest No Jewelry. I am not a referee, but I was at a basketball game when a player left his ring and ring finger on the rim after a dunk went wrong. You just never know, so why not err on the side of caution?

BTW: I would be interested in seeing you post on the Player forum regarding your UT experience. Sort of an update on how practices and games go throughout the season. You seem to have good comments and I think many would find the "insider" story interesting and valuable. At any rate, good luck in the SEC.

 

I never allow any jewelry at any level, especially earings (no matter the location). I love it when I am doing youth matches and some girl just had her ears pierced and she says she can't take them out. I of course tell her she won't play then....amazingly they manage to make their way out of the ears. Basically it just creates more problems for you if you leave them in, especially if someone gets hurt by one.

 

The FIFA Laws of the Game specifically forbids jewelry under Law 4. No player in any FIFA/USSF match should be wearing jewelry, taped or not, unless clearly for religious purposes (and that means very clearly). What you see on TV is not a good model to follow as they constantly engage in practices not supported by FIFA or USSF.

NCAA and lower divisions of college are a totally different organization than FIFA or USSF and are not affiliated. They produce their own rulebook and the sport is mainly controlled by the coaches. The referees are guided by their local association on the application of the laws, and NISOA provides guidance for Div I NCAA. There are some very major differences between college and USSF, as are there between high school and USSF.

To answer your question regarding the application of the Laws in your USSF games, jewelry is strictly forbidden and thus needs enforcement.

 

As they should be.

College rules are clear regarding jewelry: No jewelry is allowed, whether taped or not.

From the NCAA Men's and Women's Soccer Rules:

The only exception other than medical alert items are items required to be worn due to religious beliefs, but even those items are not to be allowed if the referee considers them dangerous.

 

NO,NO,NO,....Tape doesn't prevent the potential of the posts being jammed into the back of neck, the hazard is to the wearer,not other players. And think of what kind of damage can be done with an eyebrow or other face piercing!!!!!!!!!!
I had a U-16 girls game with a girl with an eyebrow and lower lip ring. When I sent her off to take them off I was greeted with the "But the other Reff's don't make me take them off!!" (Who are those guys!) In a game that will last at most 90 mins. their ears will not close up!!

PS these days check the boys as much as the girls!!!

 

I wonder how a player could think that the ball will NEVER hit them on that nose or eyebrow ring, nor will a player ever make contact with those objects.
I can't imagine contact with an eyebrow or nose ring without injury and probably profuse bleeding.

There was a college player (male) who did a routine chest trap of the ball. A moment later, the ref heard a loud yell and saw the player holding his chest and saw the shirt had become blood soaked. Apparently, the ball had ripped out his nipple ring.

The funny side of this was seeing about three other players running to the bench, lifting the fronts of their shirts and apparently removing their jewelry from the front of their bodies.

Can't see why a nose or eyebrow ring would be different.

 

laws are laws are laws

I find it ironic that Statesman would suggest that the games we see on TV, which are normally the highest level USSF/FIFA games, aren't a very good model to follow.

You don't mention what type games you referee. If a USSF/FIFA game, there is definitely no jewelry allowed. The diligence you apply in enforcing this law is up to you, but there are a couple things to help you put your decision in perspective.

If you drive 70 down a 45 mph road, right by a police car, and subsequently drive off the road at the first turn, do you think you'll be very successful in suing either the county or the police department for failing to prevent you from violating the law?

Alternatively, a teacher tells his 10-year-old students not to go near the sewer line that's being repaired. If he later observes a couple of his students attempting to push each other into the broken sewer line and does nothing, do you think the kids' parents will be successful in suing the school when one of the kids falls in?

A law may be a law, but you'll often see different standards applied to situations where a law is put in place basically to protect people from themselves. Of course, in light of some of the bizarre cases that have gained publicity in recent years (suing fast food restaraunts for making unhealthy food taste too good, making coffee hot enough to meet customer tastes, etc.), I wouldn't put too much stock in believing even adults will be held accountable for their own decisions, so you may want to play it safe, regardless of the age level. I'd especially shy away from allowing any jewelry around the eyes, regardless of age - losing one of those is a little more inconvenient than just wearing an interesting scar for the rest of your life (why would a male need two nipples, anyway?).

 

Here's an ugly little term.

En Loco Parientes.

Its a term used to describe what a teacher / school is when students are attending. IN a court of law, it could also be argued that a referee has some level of that on the field. A referee is negligent if he doesn't uphold the lotg , and so.. it wouldn't be that hard to make the leap that a referee, in the case of visible jewelry, would be responsible for a kid getting harmed by that jewelry.

On my field.. no way. No jewelry.

NONE.

Jarrod