Anne Woods: A Weekend for Superheroes
High-School Running Champs Lose Crown Due to Illegal Undies
Filed under: In The News, Weird But True, Sports, Activities: Teens
The Hereford High School Bulls lost their championship at the Baltimore County cross country races because one runner was wearing the wrong underwear. Credit: Algerina Perna, Baltimore Sun
Victory goes to the fleetest, right? Not this week. Not in Baltimore County, Md.
A boys' cross-country team sped to victory in a high school championship only to have the triumph overturned for a strange reason: Illegal shorts.
Race officials took the crown away from the Hereford High School Bulls because one of their runners ran the race wearing black compression shorts with visible white stitching under uniform pants. That broke Rule 9, Section 6, Article 1b of the National Federation of High Schools' rules which state: "Items displaying seams stitched on the outside of the garment in a visible contrasting color to the undergarment will be illegal beginning with the 2009-2010 school year."
"It's an unfortunate situation. We have the utmost respect for [Hereford]," the coach of another team in the meet said to the Baltimore Sun. "They can take the plaque away, but they can't take away the race," Hereford's co-coach Jason Bowman, told the Sun.
Small uniform glitches leading to big disappointments aren't as rare as one would think in youth sports. In March, a Chicago high school basketball team lost a hard-fought game due to uniforms with bad stripes.
Yes, folks, bad stripes.
North Lawndale College Prep showed up for a game with stripes that breached a rule mandating that basketball shirts be one color from the neck to the armhole to the bottom of the jersey. The penalty for donning the non-conforming shirts was a free throw awarded to North Lawndale's opponent (which it sank). Final score: Centennial 66, North Lawndale (with bad stripes) 65.
ParentDish sports reporter Mark Hyman is the author of Until It Hurts: America's Obsession With Youth Sports and How It Harms our Kids (Beacon Press). Have a suggestion for an article on youth sports? Contact Mark at pdyouthsports@aol.com
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ReaderComments (Page 5 of 8)
10-29-2009 @ 1:21PM
randy said...I think people need to lighten up on so many ignorent rules,It seems alot of younger kids indiveduality is being taken away from them.here in fl.some PUBLIC high schools have gone full uniform.children need to find out who they are,and i think clothes dictate alot of personality traits.weather someone agrees or not this is america and we are all different.not robots.I loved sports when in high school late 70 s,and was VERY fast ,but couldnt run track or play ball because my hair was to long,coaches kept after me because of my speed .but i refused to conform to what they thought i should look like,I played in a band and had alot of freinds and was comfortable with my apearence,so faculty caused segregation not me.stiching on underware !!! unbelevable lighten up!!!
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10-29-2009 @ 1:27PM
Marilyn said...Most athletes dress in a basically shameful, immoral, too-revealing manner ANYWAY. What possible difference could the color of the stitiching make? How about focusing on shorts that reveal the butt or undergarments, tank tops that reveal nasty underarm areas, sports BRAS and "thong" leotards worn in public--the list goes on. Wuth such loose morals on dress in this country, I seriously doubt the color of some kid's stitching is a big deal even worth commenting on, much less losing a game over!
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10-29-2009 @ 1:53PM
looker said...Were some runners running with teepees? You got to think about that.
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10-29-2009 @ 1:46PM
johndpieper said...EVERYONE else was able to follow the rules and wear the correct clothing, why couldn't this kid? The time to complain about how ridiculous a rule is should be BEFORE a race. Not afterward. I agree it's a rule I don't understand because I don't see how that would benefit a racer, but a rule is a rule. People read the rules before hand so why didn't someone mention how ridiculous it was before the race? Everyone always wants to get angry AFTER the fact. For whatever the reason, rules are rules and should be followed. If you have a concerns over the rules, address your concerns before they becomes a problem. Not afterward. The award should have been taken away from this team, BUT this rule needs to be evaluated and decided upon before any more races.
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10-29-2009 @ 2:06PM
cheetofrito32 said...Solution: Run the race with no pants at all?
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10-29-2009 @ 5:07PM
John said...Some of the respondents enjoy rules for their own sake too much. This rule does no good, and the defenses offered by the rule lovers are weak excuses.
If you want to teach respect for rules, have rules worth respecting. A rule against contrast stitching is not worth respecting. Our country was built on thumbing its nose at rules not worth respecting.
I ran four years of college track and cross country in the early 1970s. If the refs didn't want you to wear something, they had every right to tell you about it BEFORE the start. After the start, they had no right to call you on it. This was relevant to me, because I prefer to run with a headband (it keeps the sweat out of my eyes). Sometimes the refs let me run. Other times they didn't.
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10-29-2009 @ 3:04PM
Barbs said...Rules are Rules! and in sports where do you begin to deviate? As foolish as they may be, in sports you MUST follow the rules. Thats one of the problems this country is now facing, deviating from rules. If you dont like them then you find a way to change them - you simply dont ignore them and expect to be appreciated.
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10-30-2009 @ 6:10AM
demonslayar said...This is what happens when you put republicans in charge of schools and school events. Why where officials looking at young boys underwear? because they are republicans lol thats what they do for fun. What kind of nut case would even wright such a rule? A republican lol nuff said
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10-30-2009 @ 6:27AM
tyler said...It is a rule but silly. As a high school swim coach, our colors were black and orange. As the season progressed, some of the suits faded so that the black became brown/black. At a conference meet, one of the judges wanted to disqualify one of my swimmers because of that. After everyone, including the other coaches basically told him to "get a life" he backed off. As for North Lawndale, according to the Illinois High School Association, they had been warned numerous times previously. So the IHSA "official" insisted the referees assess the technical free throw. As it turned out, it was the deciding point. But, once all the facts came out, concerning the warnings, most people agreed with the assessment. But it is a nit picking rule and typical of the IHSA. They have a history of forgetting that its participants are kids.
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10-30-2009 @ 6:39AM
eddie said...Rules are rules. If you don't like the rules or you don't think they apply to you, your probly one of those people that get in the express 20 item or less lane with 25 or 21 items. A few shots of cocain won't kill you but I don't see you running out to score some. Just bend the rules a little but you bitch when you get caught. The American WAY!
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10-30-2009 @ 6:51AM
werste6 said...someone shuld shoot the president of the school
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10-30-2009 @ 6:58AM
Jim said...Im not sure whats more idiotic, the team losing because of some irrelevant rule, or the fact that some "adults" actually sat down and created it...Ed said it best
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10-30-2009 @ 7:53AM
Pierpoint Windsor said...Ridiculous-absurd, and the idiots supposedly in education or involved with same and HS sports are ruining what the word compete in those venues means. By the way, who was looking at that kids underwear, some pedophile or perv?
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10-30-2009 @ 8:06AM
Tim said...Adults who make and enforce stupid rules mosy generally produce children who grow up to be adults who make and enforce stupid rules. These morons keep the cycle of idiocity going strong. Common sense in America is diminishing at a very alarming rate. What's the difference? If the "stiching" in question has no enhancing effect, then isn't it safe to say that the people making the rules are just looking for a reason to "nit-pick"? To me, that is counter productive.
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10-30-2009 @ 9:12AM
been on both sides of an accident said...People are starving all over the world, and underwear stitching is an ISSUE? What's next?
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10-30-2009 @ 8:28AM
NickKnight74 said...The courts should intervene in this and order the decision set aside and the team reinstated
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10-30-2009 @ 10:58AM
JW said...Well let's see. There is a governing body for HS sports in MD that duly considered a rule that has good reason for being. It had to be voted on by the entire committee, which is elected by the Athletic Directors of the high schools. Seems pretty legitimate, and yet you want to get the courts involved. Aw gee, should we have plays reviewed and the courts review the referee's call to see if there was something sinister?
Congress wants to spend time on whether professional players used steroids, and meanwhile the economy goes in the tank because of lack of regulation in the banking industry.
You moron, the last thing we need is the government, whether courts, lawmakers or executive branch, more involved in something like CC underwear.
10-30-2009 @ 8:37AM
xcshayer said...Damm it people, it the rules, Everybody knows them when they get tot he starting line, the coaches need to check each runner, It doesn't matter if the rule is stupid, the boy broke the rule and obviously should not win.
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10-30-2009 @ 8:47AM
Bill said...This sounds like something some stupid-ass lawyer stayed up all night to invent. What bull....! Is crap like this what's now really important? GEEZ
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10-30-2009 @ 8:42AM
Allan said...Why are the Race Officials so focused on the Boys Underware? Sounds like there may be a Pervert amont the officals. Time for a Background Check of the "Officials"!
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