It’s time to rid football of ‘invisible’ jersey numbers

Shame on the National Federation of State High School Assns. for allowing football teams to send players on the field wearing jerseys whose numbers are virtually invisible or unidentifiable to paying customers sitting in the stands.

These are grandparents wanting to keep track of their grandsons. These are parents wanting to proudly point out their sons to friends. These are sportswriters trying to keep statistics and inform readers about who scores.

But the federation continues to rely on regulations that are out of date. Specifically, Rule 1-5-1, Article 1, Section c., No. 4, the jersey number colors requirement. It does not prevent schools from trying to copy the Oregon Ducks with the most outlandish uniforms while ignoring what a uniform is supposed to be about -- having a readable number so that fans can keep track of players during a game.

It requires continuous color(s) contrasting with the jersey color, or the same solid color(s) as the jersey with a minimum of one border that is at least a quarter-inch wide of a single solid contrasting color. Unfortunately, when the border color and the number color don’t contrast very well or aren’t dark enough, you have a scenario such as Thursday night at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

The rule allowed a school such as Narbonne (see above photo) to get away with wearing white road jerseys for which the only people who could see a number were either standing on the sideline or looking through powerful binoculars.

Narbonne Coach Manuel Douglas said the jerseys didn’t come out as he had hoped, even though they are perfectly legal. At least he understands that they are difficult to see and gave hints they last week might be the last time the jerseys were used. I asked a Narbonne player what he thought of the jersey. “Terrible” was his response.

But how can the NFSH continue to approve schools wearing jerseys that are almost invisible to fans? It certainly isn’t going to help attract more fans to a game, and it’s embarrassing to think that jerseys such as the ones Narbonne wore are legal. The sporting goods companies want uniforms to be about making a fashion statement. Does having a readable number ruin a uniform?

It’s time for fans to fight back and let their schools and the NFSH know that these type of uniforms are unacceptable.

Twitter: @LATSondheimer