IHSA Announcements

IHSA Clarification of North Lawndale Uniform Ruling

The Chicago (North Lawndale Charter) boys basketball team was assessed a technical foul for a uniform infraction prior to the start of the school’s semifinal and third-place contests at the 2009 Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 3A Boys Basketball State Finals on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21, respectively. The story has generated some misinformation and erroneous reports, thus the IHSA is releasing this account to set the record straight regarding the events of the past weekend. 

The North Lawndale uniforms were in violation of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) rule 3-4-1, which states:

Team jersey color and design shall adhere to the following:

Article A: The torso of the team jersey shall be the same single solid color for all team members.

Article B: The torso is the portion of the jersey from an imaginary line at the base of the neckline extending to each armhole, down to the bottom hem of the jersey and from side seam/insert to side seam/insert. The imaginary line at the base of the neckline shall not extend beyond 1 inch from the lowest point of the neckline apex/opening.

Article E: Side inserts, including trim/piping/accent color(s), shall be no more than 4 inches in width (2 inches on each side of the seam) of any color(s) or design centered vertically below the armpit. Side inserts for all team jerseys shall be the same width.

The white North Lawndale jerseys featured a black stripe that violated these rules, as it extended from the letters on the front of the jersey to the midway point underneath the armhole and then down toward the shorts.
 
“The responsibility of outfitting a team with legal uniforms falls on the school and their administration,” said IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman. “This was the case with North Lawndale over the weekend, as it is with every other school in every other sport in the state. There were other opportunities available to North Lawndale that were not taken advantage of. Wearing lower level uniforms or even borrowing another school’s uniforms would have fallen within the allowable context of the rules.”

Following is a brief timeline of NFHS rule 3-4-1 and the events involving North Lawndale:

2007-08 Season          

• Uniforms were made a point of emphasis by the NFHS; specifically, presentations (see below) were made available to member schools through the NFHS and IHSA websites.

• The penalty for wearing illegal uniforms was one technical foul per player who participated while wearing illegal uniforms; given its severity, the IHSA instructed officials not to enforce the penalty, but requested reports be sent to the office following games where schools violated the rule.

• A number of schools, including North Lawndale, were notified of their illegal uniforms during the season and told that, should the penalty be changed, they could expect to be penalized in the future. Schools were reminded to view the presentations available on the NFHS and IHSA websites for further explanation. Specifically, North Lawndale was notified at the state tournament in March of 2008 that their uniforms were illegal and would be subject to future penalties, particularly if the uniform rule penalty was modified.

• At the NFHS rules meeting in April of 2008, the penalty for illegal uniforms was modified. The new penalty assessed a single technical foul on the head coach for illegal uniforms worn by any number of players.

2008-09 Season          

• Uniforms were again emphasized at preseason rules meetings, given the change in penalty for wearing illegal uniforms. The preseason IHSA basketball rules meetings, which are mandatory for the head coach at every school in the state, presented 3-4-1 as a Point of Emphasis due to the change in penalty.

• Member schools and officials were again directed to the NFHS and IHSA websites for additional information regarding uniforms. With the modification of the penalty, officials were instructed that the rule was to be enforced in the current season, just like any other rule.

2009 IHSA Class 3A State Finals

• During its team shootaround at noon on Thursday, March 19, at the Peoria Civic Center, North Lawndale head coach Lewis Thorpe was notified of the uniform infraction and informed the technical foul penalty would be enforced if those uniforms were worn during the State Finals. Coach Thorpe was told that any legal uniform could be worn by the team at the State Finals.

“Considering it was an NFHS Point of Emphasis this season, we are certainly disappointed that no official had enforced this rule against North Lawndale prior to the State Finals,” added Hickman. “We have more control at the State Final level as a staff and didn’t feel that it set a good example to ignore a rule because it had been missed throughout the year. Another state final qualifier (Oswego High School) went through a similar situation with its uniforms and was able to get them corrected. While we understand North Lawndale’s disappointment, we also believe there was ample time to correct its mistake.”

The following presentations that addressed the legality of basketball uniforms were available on the IHSA and NFHS websites:  Presentation 1, Presentation 2.

Hickman closed by saying, “We feel that too much emphasis is being placed on this one call. In any close contest, there are going to be a number of plays that factor into the final outcome. Both teams had opportunities to win this game and the technical foul played no more of a role than dozens of other made shots, missed shots, turnovers and fouls that occurred throughout the contest. The unprecedented emphasis on this one call detracts from the tremendous effort given by Champaign Centennial and North Lawndale.”