New soccer rule goes into effect

Sports

Discussion

July 5, 2008

Rule change governs size of shin guards; enforces tough penalties

By JOHN VERSER The Glasgow Daily Times Sat Jul 05, 2008, 10:35 AM CDT

A new rule governing shin guards for high school soccer in Kentucky will go into effect beginning with the 2008 season.

The rule mandates the size of the shin guard depending on the players’ height and also places a hefty penalty for not following the rules. Players under 5’1” must wear a medium shin guard, while players 5’1” to 5’7” must wear a large and players 5’7” to 6’2” must wear an extra large.

“In the past, some of the kids would get youth shin guards and would just shove them in their sock, so they would only have a very small part of their shin actually covered,” Glasgow High School Director of Soccer Lora Garrett said. “They’re opting for maximum coverage of the shin bone to help prevent broken legs and that sort of thing.

“People have been bad about it (not wearing the proper equipment), so they just said we’re going to take care of it and this is how it’s going to be. And it’s throughout soccer, everywhere.”

If a player wears the incorrect size shin guard or the equipment doesn’t have the proper label on it, the penalty is severe. Both the player cited for the infraction and the coach receives a yellow card for the offense.

“What I’ve been told by Ronnie Cowan, who is the assigner of officials and is a soccer official himself, is that they will get a yellow card and the coach will get a yellow card,” Garrett said. “It’s important for me to check my players’ shin guards and make sure they have the right equipment or they can’t play. They’ll have to sit out because I can’t get a yellow card, because if I get two, then I get thrown out of the game.”

Not only must players wear the correct sized equipment, but they must leave the labels on them. The label stating the size of the shin guard must be left on along with the tag that the equipment was sanctioned by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE). All proper shin guards must be approved by the NOCSAE.

“Every shin guard has to have that label on it,” Garrett said. “If people have taken their tags off, they’re going to have to get new shin guards. The correct size has to be listed and it’s got to have the NOCSAE tag on it.”

Garrett said the rule was originally set to go into effect for the 2006-07 school year and then was pushed back to 2007-08. But the rule will finally go into effect this season.

The new shin guards cost between $15-30.

“Most of the ones that I looked at in the catalog were $15-30,” Garrett said. “But it’s one more thing for the parents to have to get. I know that’s a little rough this time of year with this economy.”

Garrett added that more specifics on the rule will be given at the coaches’ rules clinic in early August.

“We won’t get the final word on it until we go to the rules clinic August 3 in Owensboro and August 4 at Central Hardin, and that’s two weeks before the season,” Garrett said. “You’ve got to start checking on them now and let the kids know that’s what’s coming down the pipe.”

Text Only

Sports

One last chance
As Lora Garrett prepares the Glasgow High School swim team for this weekend’s Kentucky High School Athletic Association Region 1 Swimming and Diving Championships in Owensboro, she sees a lot of positives for her team. Meghan Taylor is swimming well in the freestyle and Grayson Reynolds is swimming well, as are a couple of the Lady Scottie relay teams.

February 10, 2012
Focused
Steve Metzger, the head swim coach at Barren County High School, is pretty excited about where his team is right now as the Trojans and the Trojanettes prepare for the regional championships this weekend.

February 10, 2012
Underdog role
Luke Pniewski, the head wrestling coach at Barren County High School, knows his team will be the underdog this weekend at the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Region 2 Wrestling Championships in Danville.

February 10, 2012
Swindle signs to play golf at Lindsey Wilson
Only three years after she picked up a golf club for the first time, Glasgow High School senior Courtney Swindle signed her letter of intent to play golf for Lindsey Wilson College.

February 9, 2012 1 Photo
Caverna girls lose close match, 58-50
The Caverna Lady Colonels lost a hard-fought battle Tuesday night to John Hardin High School out of Elizabethtown. Caverna lost, 58-50.

February 9, 2012
Cummings leads Trojanettes over Russell County
A coach, in any sport, prays for the night when everything comes together for his or her team. In basketball, coaches want their teams to play good defense, rebound and shoot the ball well. When a team can do those three things, and do them well, they’re hard to beat.

February 8, 2012
Glasgow boys dump Hornets
While Glasgow and Metcalfe started off on equal footing Tuesday night, the Scotties ran away with the game in the second half, to end the night 97-49.

February 8, 2012
Barren County boys lose, 84-81
For 31 minutes and 24 seconds of Tuesday’s game against visiting Russell County, the Barren County Trojans were playing some pretty good basketball. Barren County was shooting well over 50 percent from the field, was playing good stingy defense on the Lakers and, with just 36 seconds remaining in the game, the Trojans were in striking distance, trailing 81-79.

February 8, 2012
Lady Scotties roll past Metcalfe girls
The Glasgow Lady Scotties won handily on the basketball court Tuesday night with a 71-35 win over the Metcalfe County Lady Hornets. It was a big night for Glasgow, as it was only the second time in the school’s history that the girls’ basketball team won 20 games.

February 8, 2012
Lindsey leads Caverna over Monticello
Dearrick Lindsey scored 23 points Monday night to lead the Caverna Colonels to a 55-46 victory on the road at Monticello.

February 7, 2012
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

Discussion

New soccer rule goes into effect

Rule change governs size of shin guards; enforces tough penalties

Site Map