5516 Vern Holmes Drive
Stevens Point, WI 54482



Dear Ms. Deb Hauser,

My name is Colin Dibb, I am a soccer player at my high school. I have played soccer for fourteen years and all four years of my high school career. I am writing to you to express my concern about the new rule that the WIAA has obtained from the National Federation of State High School Regulations. The rule states that players cannot wear a light colored tape if they are wearing a dark colored sock and vice versa. I do not see the significance in limiting the color of the tape to be relevant to the color of the sock. This rule should be disregarded from the WIAA Rules and Regulations Section.

When tape is used on the socks, it is used solely for the purpose of keeping the shin guard from sliding up and down your shin. Most players only tape around the bottom portion of the ankle to prevent a downwards sliding of the guard. The tape covering the bottom portion of the ankle only takes up half-inch of the sock. Section 4-1-1c: Clarifies that tape applied to the socks cannot change the basic color of the socks. The half-inch of tape being used for a productive process of keeping the guard in place will hardly deter base color of the whole sock. I myself have fallen victim to the ruling of the color of tape to sock difference. My entire team was going to wear pink tape around our socks to support breast cancer however because our sock color was blue, we were instructed by the referees to cover up the tape with a darker material. I was very disappointed as not only did it waste our preparation and time before the game because of the need to change, but also, not allowing us to support the cause.

As the head of the athletic director’s workshop and soccer rules and regulations, I would urge you to please consider looking at improving some of the more problematic rules, instead of focusing on less significant rules. In doing this, you could not only focus on the more drastic game changing rules but also save time in discussing less significant ones.

If you would like to contact me, I can be reached at the address above.

Sincerely,
Colin D.