The latest WIAA bulletin notes there will be new football jerseys requirements in 2012.

“The jerseys have to meet the requirements in rule 1-5-1-c-5,” said WIAA spokesman Todd Clark.

According to the new regulations: Decorative stripes may follows the curve of the raglan sleeve or following the shoulder seam in the traditional yoke construction not to exceed 1-inch at any point within the body of the jersey; or a decorative stripe(s) added in the shoulder area after production, not to exceed 1 inch per stripe and total size of combined stripes not to exceed 3.5 inches.

The following are legal jerseys: All of the sample football jerseys are currently legal and will still be legal in 2012. The design patterns and color schemes on these sample football jerseys do comply with the new 2012 football jersey rule.

The following are illegal jerseys: All of the sample football jerseys are currently legal by NFHS rules.

In 2012, all four of these designs and color schemes will be illegal based on the new NFHS football jersey rule.

Football Jersey A:  This football jersey will be illegal in 2012 because the white on the blue home team jersey cannot be between the shoulders, on the yoke and below the collar.

Football Jersey B:  This home football jersey will be illegal in 2012 because it cannot have both a white decorative stripe insert on the shoulder and a white side seam decorative stripe to the collar. It could have one or the other as long as the decorative stripe does not exceed 1 inch at any point in the body of the jersey or the decorative stripe insert does not exceed 3.5 inches, or the stripes do not contain white.

Football Jersey C:  This football jersey will be illegal in 2012 because the black on the white visiting team jersey cannot be between the shoulders, on the yoke and below the collar.

Football Jersey D:  This football jersey will be illegal in 2012 because the orange on the white visiting team jersey cannot be between the shoulders, on the yoke and below the collar.

Wade Labecki with the WIAA tried to clarify why the association was moving forward with the change. “This is an NFHS rule and the WIAA is a member of the NFHS,” said Labecki.

COACHES INPUT…

Area coaches with some football fashion sense have weighed in on the change.

The main thing is that if you are the home team with your blue uniforms on but have a big white stripe on your shoulders, the visiting team is wearing white, it can become an issue for the quarterback glancing down field. Most schools only replace jerseys every five years. Rodney Wedig - Big Foot Union High School

My best guess is that somebody at the NFHS had too much time on their hands and decided they didn't like the look of some team's jersey. I can honestly say that in my 13 years of coaching football, I never had a problem with anyone's jersey unless of course they were beating us..just kidding. This jersey thing is almost as stupid as adding the horse collar rule. Vern Butz – Kewaskum High School

For years the National Federation only specified that the home team wear the dark jersey and the visiting team wear the light jersey.  This eventually led to problems. While most schools wore white as the primary color of their away jerseys, some messed with the system a bit.  A school I played against in high school wore black at home and red on the road.  Technically the dark and light colors.  Our home jerseys were orange - which led to some confusion with a team in orange and a team in red.  The NF has since said that visiting teams need wear white.  (They have done the same in basketball - home in white, visitor in dark.)

The problem with most of the newer jerseys is the percentage of the various colors on the jersey.  There are some jerseys that you honestly have a hard time telling if they are white with red trim/striping, etc. (for example) or red with white trim/striping, etc.

A few years ago the jerseys we wear (New York Jets style) showed up on the list of jerseys that would be banned.  I called the vendor we buy them from and then Dave Anderson of the WIAA - then the executive staff member in charge of football - to voice my concern, because I did not feel that our jersey was in violation of the rules - that they were distracting or deceiving to opponents.  Dave came back that January or February from the National Federation meetings and informed me that our style of jersey was taken off that list that was to be illegal by 2012.

At Kewaskum we have a uniform rotation based upon the number of levels of a sport offered (varsity, JV, freshman vs. varsity and JV) and the wear and tear the particular sport takes on the uniforms (some are more physical and harsher on the material than others). 

Based on that rotation, I try to have two to four programs per year get new uniforms. The old uniforms are handed down to the lower levels. Ideally, no uniform will be in our system for more than 10 years.

Budgets often dictate how long they have to stay in the system - so there have been some years we have had to extend the life of, to get us through tough times. 

As it applies to football - I replace some jerseys and pants each year.  Every three to four years when our time comes up in the rotation I purchase a set of jerseys and pants.  I allow senior players the opportunity to purchase either or both of their game-worn jerseys, which then allows me to purchase a replacement of the same number. 

That is the main way I replace jerseys.  We wear the same style uniform at all three levels - varsity, JV, and freshmen, therefore I can plan ahead based on the number of kids coming up through the program and order a few extra uniforms when needed - so we can have enough.

I probably gave you more information than you wanted. I am good at that. Thanks, Jason Piittmann – Kewaskum High School