Rules Committee OKs Wearing Certain Casts During Games

High school football players will be permitted to wear some kinds of casts and splints during games, under a rules change adopted by the National Federation Football Rules Committee.

The committee also made two changes in sportsmanship rules during its meeting last weekend in Point Clear, Ala., the National Federation of State High School Assns. announced Thursday.

The rule changes go into effect for the 1994 season.

The committee voted to allow casts or splints made of hard, abrasive or unyielding substances for the hand, wrist, forearm or elbow if they are covered with half-inch thick, closed-cell polyurethane and is approved in writing by a licensed physician.

The NCAA has had a similar rule for 10 years, and a half-dozen states experimented with the new high school rule last season.

In another change, any substitute who leaves the team box and enters the playing field during a fight will be ejected. Taunting and any delayed, excessive or prolonged act by which a player attempts to focus attention on himself will also be penalized as unsportsmanlike conduct for 15 yards.