Obscure cross-country uni rule costs HS team title

[Young Drachma]

Officials defend cross country uniform rule -- baltimoresun.com

A rule is a rule, and it must be enforced. That's the word from state and national high school officials regarding the disqualification of a Hereford runner for a uniform violation at Monday's Baltimore County cross country championships.

The infraction, which related to the color of the stitching of the runner's undershorts, cost Hereford the boys team title. It also raised questions about the relevance of high school athletic regulations that appear to have no obvious effect on the competition itself.

"The [uniform] rule has no bearing on the race, but it's in the book - which makes it one of the regulations that we have to follow," said Steve Smith, the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association interpreter for the National Federation of Track and Cross Country Rules.

At the county meet, it was Smith who made the decision to disqualify the Hereford runner (who had finished fourth), as well as seven others from competing teams, for uniform violations that are clearly defined in guidelines that are distributed to schools before the season.

Moreover, Smith said, before the race, he and other officials spotted a number of runners with uniform violations who changed immediately to pass muster.

"Practically the whole Kenwood team was out of compliance, but they got legal before the race," Smith said. "We try to prevent such situations."

The Hereford runner's outfit would have been OK a year ago, said Becky Oakes, assistant director of the National Federation of State High School Associations in Indianapolis. But the NFHS then voted to bar runners from wearing visible undergarments of more than one color.

The athlete's Spandex undershorts were black, with white stitching.

Oakes defended the new ruling, saying that conformity among team members is paramount.

"Your cross country uniform is supposed to say that 'I'm from high school XYZ,' " she said. "Philosophically, that's what 'team' is all about.

"The [multicolored] Spandex undergarment began to get away from that."

There has been no backlash from the mandate, which took effect this fall, Oakes said.

"We've not had a lot of calls on this one. Most schools have conveyed the rule to their kids," she said.

At Towson, which won the boys team championship Monday, there was sympathy for Hereford.

"But the rule is clearly stated," Towson coach Ed Faya said. "We hound the kids on this, and it's really inexcusable."

At Towson, the coach meets with his squad in August to discuss rules and choose a team uniform. Runners are told there are no dress exceptions.

Still, said Faya, "as a coach, you kind of hold your breath."

Faya has coached cross country for 15 years. Jason Bowman, the Hereford coach, has been at it for 12.

"Ultimately, the burden [of the disqualification] comes down on us as coaches," Bowman said. "Usually, we're extremely militant, but [on race day] there's a thousand things going through coaches' minds, and this was just one of those unfortunate circumstances."

It won't happen again, said Bowman, who vowed to "revisit the rules."

Before regionals Friday, the Hereford coach said, "We'll have all the kids bring in everything they are wearing two days before the race and thoroughly check it. Then we'll check it again at the line."

The incident cost Hereford a trophy, but the team still gained from it, the coach said.

"Sports is a microcosm of life. It provides an opportunity to teach all kinds of lessons, some more noble than others. This is a lesson like any other," Bowman said.

"It certainly has been for me."

The 'uniform' rule
From the National Federation of State High School Associations rule book:

"Items displaying seams stitched on the outside of the garment in a visible contrasting color to the undergarment will be illegal beginning with the 2009-10 school year."

Rules are rules, yes. But man, what a stupid rule.

[spleen1015]

I dunno man. Multi-colored underwear has the potential to ruin the world.

[cartman]

Not quite as bad as the runners that got disqualified for wearing Livestrong wrist bands.

LIVESTRONG band decision provoked furor - ESPN

[flere-imsaho]

When I ran XC in high school in Maine, by the time the end of the season kids were wearing hats, gloves, long-sleeve shirts under their tops and/or full spandex on their legs, depending on the weather. If this rule is being enforced in Maine I'm sure some of the teams from poorer, more rural areas, would resent having to spend extra money to make sure all of their accessories match.

So yeah, it's a stupid rule. Besides, XC isn't a "team" sport 100%, at least not enough to use that as an argument for this rule.

[larrymcg421]

I understand that a rule is a rule, but does the rule specifically provide that disqualification is the only possible punishment? I really wonder what the exact language is in this book.

It seems that a rule violation that has no bearing on the competition can be handled differently, starting with a warning and escalating from there. I don't see why it has to be disqualification unless that's plainly spelled out in the rules.

[Kodos]

Stupid beyond belief.

[fantom1979]

Another blow to common sense.

[JonInMiddleGA]

While looking at the Maryland state HS bylaws I ran across something unusual (or at least it struck me odd)

Note: It is expected that high school teams conduct practice for all members or engage in competition every day school is in session during the sports season.

So if, for example, a football team has a bye week coming up and the coach wants to give them Monday off, by this rule it appears he can't actually do that (without resorting to some sort of five minute long team meeting that's officially called "practice" for that day). I know that's aside from the underoos stitching question but WTF causes a rule like this to exist in the first place? Was there some problem in Maryland with teams not practicing enough?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Also, I still haven't found the specific rule citation nor what penalty is proscribed for it (since the NFSHSA doesn't appear to have their rules online for anyone except paying members) but I did find a press release which described the "points of emphasis" for 2010, including "application of “design of uniform” for relays and cross country."

edit to add: Also found where the press release for the previous year's points of emphasis included "visible undergarments".

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

While looking at the Maryland state HS bylaws I ran across something unusual (or at least it struck me odd)



So if, for example, a football team has a bye week coming up and the coach wants to give them Monday off, by this rule it appears he can't actually do that (without resorting to some sort of five minute long team meeting that's officially called "practice" for that day). I know that's aside from the underoos stitching question but WTF causes a rule like this to exist in the first place? Was there some problem in Maryland with teams not practicing enough?

Apparently it's a national high schools rule. I looked at the comments and most people were like us and thought WTF, but a few defended it, of course. And one in particular said, that apparently the exposed areas could have a sponsor's name on it or something.

But the national high school federation seems more interested in making rules than actually making sense anyway, so...I guess we shouldn't be too surprised. What messed me up is that some teams got notified ahead of time of the rule when they were in violation before the race, others weren't and then someone noticed or an official was notified and a player DQ'd as a result of what's clearly not an evenly applied infraction.

Seems fishy to me at best. I doubt one of other coaches did it, but maybe an official with an axe to grind? This team was the defending champs after all and at this level, the officials are usually not too far connected from the teams themselves. I was just a county title meet, not state event..so, that seems to raise the possibility of shenanigans to me.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Also, I still haven't found the specific rule citation nor what penalty is proscribed for it (since the NFSHSA doesn't appear to have their rules online for anyone except paying members) but I did find a press release which described the "points of emphasis" for 2010, including "application of “design of uniform” for relays and cross country."

edit to add: Also found where the press release for the previous year's points of emphasis included "visible undergarments".

Here's what they put at the end of the article:

From the National Federation of State High School Associations rule book:

"Items displaying seams stitched on the outside of the garment in a visible contrasting color to the undergarment will be illegal beginning with the 2009-10 school year."

[JonInMiddleGA]

Frankly I can understand the undergarment thing better than the (unrelated) mandatory practice thing.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Here's what they put at the end of the article:

From the National Federation of State High School Associations rule book:

Yeah, I saw that but I was looking for the full version in response to the query up the thread about whether DQ was the proscribed remedy for violations.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

While looking at the Maryland state HS bylaws I ran across something unusual (or at least it struck me odd)

"Note: It is expected that high school teams conduct practice for all members or engage in competition every day school is in session during the sports season."

So if, for example, a football team has a bye week coming up and the coach wants to give them Monday off, by this rule it appears he can't actually do that (without resorting to some sort of five minute long team meeting that's officially called "practice" for that day). I know that's aside from the underoos stitching question but WTF causes a rule like this to exist in the first place? Was there some problem in Maryland with teams not practicing enough?

I don't know if you or I are misreading the intent of the rule, but the way I read it the important part is "practice for all members... every day". So (at least around here) you can't have kids from select hockey/soccer travel teams practicing/playing with their club, then showing up on game day for their local HS. I'm also 99% certain Massachusetts doesn't allow players to play two sports in one season - myself and friends tried being allowed to punt/placekick for the football team while still playing soccer during the week but were told it was against MIAA rules.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

I wonder if the multi-colored undies in question were patriotic.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I don't know if you or I are misreading the intent of the rule, but the way I read it the important part is "practice for all members... every day". So (at least around here) you can't have kids from select hockey/soccer travel teams practicing/playing with their club, then showing up on game day for their local HS. I'm also 99% certain Massachusetts doesn't allow players to play two sports in one season - myself and friends tried being allowed to punt/placekick for the football team while still playing soccer during the week but were told it was against MIAA rules.

Okay, in conjunction with a couple of other things I saw, that bit about the select teams/hs teams kind of makes sense and I suspect your interpretation is the correct one. No such rule in GA afaik, so I'd never encountered that before.

[stevew]

Dumb enforcement of the rule. But if it is a point of emphasis the coach really shit the bed too.

In the end the coach is responsible for his athletes.

[stevew]

Dola
The red should have never let anyone off the starting line uh violation if he was going to enforce the rule

It is kinda like the pinetar bat incident.

[BrianD]

This is a pretty crappy situation, but how does the coach not take care of this problem before it happens? I has been emphasized the past 2 years. This should have been taken care of long before a championship meet.

[mtolson]

My daughter ran track in HS in Maryland. They have some of the most nit picky rules I have ever seen. She was DQ'ed once for having a different color shirt under her uniform than the rest of the relay team. Two girls had on a dark blue while the others were a slightly darker shade. Never mind the fact that the girls were running outside in the rain in about 40 degree weather. Another kid was DQ'ed because he had a band-aid on his ear. Half the schools in the county I live can barely come up with uniforms let alone matching ones. The kids run in some of the most extreme conditions and there are worried about stitch colors ?