Several questions

In a hs game after three innings, the umpire noticed that a player had a soft ponytail holder on her wrist and ejected her from the game. Was that really necessary to eject her for that.

Second question, if the rules are that the players should wear any jewelry,why do you see the college players on ESPN wearing earrings during the game. Is that just because they are on tv?

 

Seemed like a harsh punishment where a warning might have sufficed.

College has no rules against jewelry that I am aware of.

 

Every time I've seen that violation it resulted in a warning. A second violation resulted in the player and the head coach being restricted to the dugout.

An ejection would be rare and would usually involve more than what was explained in the original post. A lot of paperwork is required for an ejection. No one really wants an ejection--umpires, coaches or players!

 

There are no rules against jewelry in college
I seem to remember a pitcher from one of the Pac-10 teams a couple of years ago who had studs all the way down the back of her neck, a lip piercing, and and eyebrow or two!!
An ejection did seem to be harsh, unless a warning had already been given. And keep into account that normally when an umpire warns EITHER team he also warns the other. So the warning did not specifically have to go to that girl.

 

Before the game

Many umpires address their personal rules about ribbons, clips, jewelry, etc. at the meeting with the coaches and captains at the plate. They may state right there that all must be removed and any failure to do so would result in immediate ejection.

Yes, it does seem completely STUPID that a girl can't wear a ribbon tied around her ponytail, but that's what will be enforced by some umpires.

 

Although this has been addressed in passing, it bears emphasis: There are tons of different rule sets out there. High School (NFHS) and College (NCAA) have very different rule books. Each travel ball organization has its own as well, so rules will be different from tournament to tournament. And the ISF (under which international competition is played) is different too. And don't get me started on Little League, Dixie Youth, Pony, etc.

So: just because you see it in a game on TV does not mean the same applies in high school, or in that weekend tournament. Oh, and one of the worst sources of information on rules are the commentators on TV. They are paid to flap their gums, but knowing what they're talking about is obviously not a requirement.

Now, you do have the umpire who can't keep the different rules straight, or applies his own personal bias on what should be the rule (i.e. did you know that ASA doesn't have a "no jewelry" rule?).

NFHS does have a no jewelry rule, anything worn as an adornment like that usually constitutes jewelry (even if it did just fall out of her hair and she stuck it there until she had time to fix it) and I'm betting both teams were warned earlier.

 

I personally asked about this rule for the State tournament this year, because the last couple years, the jewelry rule has not been enforced as much. Answer was, no jewelry at all.

Metal spikes are fine, but no earrings. Go figure.

 

Those rules apply to all hs sports, not just softball.

 

HS is played mostly by minors and college is mostly adults. Almost all sports that are mostly minors have jewelry rules and almost all sports that are mostly adults do not have jewelry rules. As far as NFHS it is no jewelry and hair devices cannot be adorned and pins can only be 2 inches long. Also its is a team warning for the first offense and player head coach restriction for second offense. Only the offending team should be warned and not both teams. Also pre game warnings are not to be considered as the first offense and if an umpire warns in he pre game and restricts or ejects after the first offense there's no immediate recourse during regular season, but in playoffs the coach may protest the decision.

Hope this helps

 

Aint that the truth!!!