Promotion of good sporting behavior highlighted rules changes approved by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Basketball Rules Committee at its April 12-14 meeting in Indianapolis. The changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors and will take effect with the 2010-11 season.
Rules 10-3-6i and 10-5-5 were added to address the unsporting acts of leaving the playing court for an unauthorized reason to demonstrate resentment, disgust or intimidation as well as to address team members leaving the bench and/or playing area for an unauthorized reason.
“It was part of closing a gap in the rule created in 2005,” said Mary Struckhoff, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the Basketball Rules Committee.
Struckhoff said a rule passed by the committee in 2005 changed the unauthorized leaving of the floor during play from a technical foul to a violation.
“At that time, the committee was more concerned about a strategy being utilized during live-action, and the rule was changed from a technical foul to a violation,” Struckhoff said. “This year’s changes address leaving the court for an unauthorized reason during breaks in the action and specifically relate to sporting behavior.”
Sportsmanship will also be addressed in a 2010-11 Point of Emphasis relating to pregame warm-ups and intermissions, recommending that players entering the court for warm-ups not run through the opposing team’s warm-up or under its basket.
“Proper sporting behavior is paramount in interscholastic sports,” Struckhoff said. “The NFHS membership and the high school community are generally happy with where the game is. The sport of basketball is in good shape, so the committee focused on sportsmanship issues first.”
A change to Rule 3-5-3a adjusted the acceptable colors of headbands and wristbands for players. The change now allows players to wear any single, solid school color, not just the predominant color of the jersey. Players will be permitted to wear black, white, beige or a solid school color, provided all participants are wearing the same color.
“The desire is for the team to look uniform in its appearance,” Struckhoff said. “But, the committee wanted a team wearing its home white uniforms to have an option to wear one of the school’s colors.”
Following are other changes made by the NFHS Basketball Rules Committee:
- A significant rules change that will affect all sports requires that any athlete who exhibits signs, symptoms or behaviors consistent with a concussion, including but not limited to loss of consciousness, headache, dizziness, confusion or balance problems, must be removed from the contest immediately and shall not return to play before being cleared by an appropriate health-care professional.
- A note added to Rule 3-3-1a which also affects Rule 4-32-2 states that when a substitute is not properly reported, the players in the game at the conclusion of the quarter or after the time-out was granted shall begin play for the new quarter or after the time-out has ended. Additionally, it notes that all team members are bench personnel for the purpose of penalizing unsporting behavior.
- A change to Rule 3-4-2d clarifies where a school logo or mascot may be located. It is permissible if the logo is at the apex or opening of the neckline, in the corresponding area on the back of the jersey and/or in either side insert.
- More specifications were made under Rule 3-5-2 regarding the requirements for guards, casts and braces. With this, it notes protective face masks must be worn molded to the face.
- Rule 4-4-7d was modified to clarify when a ball is at the disposal of a player after a goal is scored.
- Additionally, a clarification to Rule 7-6-6 states that when the ball is awarded to the wrong team, the mistake must be rectified before the throw-in ends.
A complete listing of all rules changes approved by the committee is available on the NFHS Web site at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Athletics & Fine Arts Activities” on the home page, and select “Basketball.”
Basketball is the second-most popular sport for girls and third-most popular for boys at the high school level, according to the 2008-09 High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the NFHS, with 444,809 girls and 545,145 boys participating nationwide. The sport ranks first in school sponsorship of girls and boys teams with 17,582 schools sponsoring the sport for girls and 17,869 sponsoring the sport for boys.
