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The official posting at the NFHS site has not yet taken place.. but here it is until a link is available, hopefully the format of cut/paste will not get the article messed up:

High School Track and Field Rules Changes Focus on Jewelry Violations and Pole Vault Requirements
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Becky Oakes
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (July 5, 2011) — The penalty for wearing jewelry during high school track and field competition will shift from the team to the individual competitor beginning next season.
In its June 8-10 meeting in Indianapolis, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Track and Field and Cross Country Rules Committee addressed the jewelry rule and clarified two rules in the pole vault among its nine major changes. All changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.
The revised jewelry rule states that “for the first violation, the competitor shall be required to remove the jewelry before further competition and be issued a warning that a subsequent violation shall result in a disqualification from the event.”
“The rule still prohibits the wearing of jewelry, but the members of the rules committee and results of the questionnaire strongly support the penalty applying only to the competitor involved as opposed to the entire team,” said Becky Oakes, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the Track and Field Rules Committee.
In Rule 7-5-2, requirements for pole vault competitors were changed. The rule eliminates the limit of only two layers of tape on the grip end but still requires any tape placed on the pole to be of uniform thickness on the grip end.
In addition, Rule 7-5-25 clarifies who may touch or catch the pole and under what circumstances touching the pole is not allowed. The rule reads, “No person shall be allowed to touch the vaulting pole except an assigned official, assigned pole catcher or the competitor, when circumstances warrant, but never to prevent the pole from dislodging the bar.”
“The competitor or designated official can catch the pole, but the touch or catch by the competitor that prevents the crossbar from being dislodged is still a foul,” Oakes said.
The committee also made updates to Rule 9-1-1 regarding the method of measuring a cross country course that reflect trends in the sport. The cross country course shall be measured along the shortest possible route that a runner may take, as opposed to measuring down the middle of the course.
Another change now makes it legal for competitors to wear visible undergarments that have a contrasting stitching to the color of the single, solid color of the undergarment. The stitching must function in the construction of the undergarment and not as a design.
Other rules changes approved by the committee include:
• Rule 3-4-2: The referee retains clerical authority over the contest through the completion of any reports, including those imposing disqualifications, that are responsive to actions occurring while the referee had jurisdiction. State associations may intercede in the event of unusual incidents after the referee’s jurisdiction has ended or in the event that a contest is terminated prior to the conclusion of regulation play.
• Rule 5-7-3: The starting command for individual races – or opening relay legs of 800 meters or more outdoors and 600 meters or more indoors – shall be to instruct all competitors to take a position three meters behind the starting line or dashed arc behind the line. With “On your marks,” the competitors step to the starting line.
• Rule 7-4-10: The games committee may assign competitors to flights of no less than five for preliminary competition or may conduct the event in continuing flights. In continuing flights, the first five competitors, as determined by the games committee, constitute a flight. As a contestant clears the bar, passes a turn at the height or is eliminated, the next competitor in order will be moved up so that the number of competitors in the active flight remains constant. When the field is down to eight or fewer competitors, it is recommended that participants are called as listed on the event sheet.
• Rule 9-3-3: Updates were made to this rule that address the use of bib transponders or timing chips on the shoes and the official order of finish when the computerized item(s) are used.
A complete listing of all rules changes approved by the committee is available on the NFHS Web site at http://www.nfhs.org. Click on “Athletics & Fine Arts Activities” on the home page, and select “Track and Field.”
Outdoor track and field is the second-most popular sport for boys, with 572,123 participants, and most popular sport for girls, with 469,177 participants, at the high school level, according to the 2010-11 NFHS Athletics Participation Survey. The sport ranks second in school sponsorship with 16,011 schools sponsoring the sport for boys and 15,923 sponsoring the sport for girls.
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This press release was written by Eamonn Reynolds, a summer intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department and a senior at Ohio University.
About the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS)
The NFHS, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the national leadership organization for high school sports and fine arts activities. Since 1920, the NFHS has led the development of education-based interscholastic sports and fine arts activities that help students succeed in their lives. The NFHS sets direction for the future by building awareness and support, improving the participation experience, establishing consistent standards and Rules for competition, and helping those who oversee high school sports and activities. The NFHS writes playing Rules for 17 sports for boys and girls at the high school level. Through its 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia, the NFHS reaches more than 19,000 high schools and 11 million participants in high school activity programs, including more than 7.5 million in high school sports. As the recognized national authority on interscholastic activity programs, the NFHS conducts national meetings; sanctions interstate events; produces publications for high school coaches, officials and athletic directors; sponsors professional organizations for high school coaches, officials, spirit coaches, speech and debate coaches and music adjudicators; serves as the national source for interscholastic coach training; and serves as a national information resource of interscholastic athletics and activities. For more information, visit the NFHS Web site at http://www.nfhs.org.


MEDIA CONTACTS: Bruce Howard or John Gillis, 317-972-6900
National Federation of State High School Associations
PO Box 690, Indianapolis, Indiana 46206
bhoward@nfhs.org or jgillis@nfhs.org


Bruce Howard
Director of Publications and Communications
National Federation of State High School Associations
PO Box 690
Indianapolis, IN 46206
317-822-5724
317-822-5700 (Fax)
bhoward@nfhs.org

Sounds like an ok change x 2. I like the jewelry change.

Wow those rule changes actually make sense...

So glad they are changing the tape rule. I enforced it at state one year and felt like an overly picky official.

Let's see if Illinois will change with this rule. Illinois requires one continuous wrap on a pole. Meaning you cannot have your top hand as one wrap and your bottom hand as one wrap. By the way, I have never been able to see this in print on the IHSA website or the manual for the State Meet.

vcpvcoach wrote:Let's see if Illinois will change with this rule. Illinois requires one continuous wrap on a pole. Meaning you cannot have your top hand as one wrap and your bottom hand as one wrap. By the way, I have never been able to see this in print on the IHSA website or the manual for the State Meet.

I've asked the IHSA powers that very question more than once. The response has always been that it is the interpretation of the rule that they use at State. The rule requiring that tape be “uniform thickness at the grip end” has been interpreted to mean one continuous length of tape. The thinking being that tape-bare pole-tape is not “uniform thickness”. But you are correct in that there are many interpretations that we use in Illinois that never seem to be written down anywhere. It makes life fun for those of us who have to explain our decisions to you coaches.

http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=5563


NFHS Track and Field and Cross Country Rules Changes 2012

3-4-2 The referee’s authority begins upon arrival at the meet site and concludes 30 minutes after the last event results have been announced or made official. The referee retains clerical authority over the contest through the completion of any reports, including those imposing disqualification that are responsive to actions occurring while the referee has jurisdiction. State associations may intercede in the event of unusual incidents after the referee’s jurisdiction has ended or in the event that contest is terminated prior to the conclusion of regulation play.
Rationale: Administrative duties for the meet referee may need to continue after the meet to document actions which occur during the competition. This revision illustrates the difference between the meet referee’s jurisdiction during the contest and other administrative responsibilities such as submitting specific reports after the meet. In addition, clarifies that state associations may continue to develop and implement policies that allow for review of unusual incidents that occur while the meet officials have jurisdiction or after the meet.

4-3-1b(8), 4-3-1c(7), 9-6-1b(7), 9-6-1c(7) new NOTE 2 A visible garment worn under the uniform top and/or bottom displaying contrasting/different color stitching to the single, solid color of the undergarment and which functions as the actual seam for the undergarment’s construction is legal.
Rationale: Stitching on a visible undergarment, top or bottom, of a contrasting or different color to that of the single, solid color of the garment will not distract or cause the color of the undergarment to become confusing. The stitching must be used for construction of the garment and not design.

4-3-3 PEN For the first violation, the competitor shall be required to remove the jewelry before further competition and be issued a warning that a subsequent violation shall result in a disqualification from the event. The referee shall be notified of the violation by the observing meet official and he/she shall notify the coach of the offending school of the competitor’s violation and the warning.
Rationale: The penalty and potential of disqualification for wearing jewelry should apply only to the competitor involved.

5-7-3 The starting command for individual races, or opening relay legs of 800 meters or more outdoors and 600 meters or more indoors shall be to instruct all competitors to take a position three meters behind the starting line or dashed arc behind the line. With the command “On your marks” all competitors will step to the starting line without delay. When all competitors are steady, the starter shall fire the starting device.
Rationale: Creates consistency in the distance behind the starting line for the step-up mark used in all one command running events. This distance is far enough behind the line that competitors will have a definite stop before the starting line and eliminate a leaning movement into the start.


7-4-10, 7-5-17 The starting command for individual races, or opening relay legs of 800 meters or more outdoors and 600 meters or more indoors shall be to instruct all competitors to take a position three meters behind the starting line or dashed arc behind the line. With the command “On your marks” all competitors will step to the starting line without delay. When all competitors are steady, the starter shall fire the starting device.
Rationale: Creates consistency in the distance behind the starting line for the step-up mark used in all one command running events. This distance is far enough behind the line that competitors will have a definite stop before the starting line and eliminate a leaning movement into the start.

7-5-2 The vaulting pole may be of any material and of any length and diameter. It may have a binding of layers of adhesive tape of uniform thickness on the grip end. However, the plant end of the pole may be protected by layers of tape, PVC, sponge rubber or other suitable material to protect the pole when placed in the planting box.
Rationale: Eliminates the limit of the requirement for only two layers of tape and requires the tape to be of uniform thickness. Does not remove the intent that a competitor cannot build a knob type grip to enhance his/her performance.

7-5-25, 7-5-29 new i No person shall be allowed to touch the vaulting pole except the pole may be caught by an assigned official, designated pole catcher or the competitor, when circumstances warrant, but never to prevent the pole from dislodging the crossbar which would result in a foul.
Rationale: Clarifies who may touch or catch the pole and under what circumstances touching the pole is not allowed. The touch or catch by the competitor that prevents the crossbar from being dislodged is a foul.

9-1-1 The cross country run shall be a course 2500 to 5000 meters (1.5 to 3.1 miles) in length as determined by the meet director or games committee. Measurements shall be along the shortest possible route a runner may take.
Rationale: This method of measurement is a more accurate distance of the running route taken by competitors and updates the rule to current trends in the sport for course measurement.

9-3-3, 9-6-2 Computerized transponders may be used to record the finish of a runner in cross country. A bib transponder or two transponders per runner, one attached to each shoe must be used. When transponders are used, the official order of finish for the runners is that recorded by the transponder, torso for bib transponder and foot for chips.
Rationale: Updates terminology when referring to a computerized transponder and includes allowing the use of a transponder being placed on the runner’s bib. Clarifies, when worn on the shoes, there is to be one transponder/chip on each shoe and transponders determine order of finish.

2012 Track and Field Major Editorial Changes

4-4 new NOTE Clarifies the authority and criteria for the state association to authorize exceptions to the competition rules to provide a reasonable accommodation to individual participants.

5-10-7 Clarifies a legal relay handoff between the incoming and outgoing runners.

6-3-2a and b Unnecessary verbiage removed in describing the tie breaking procedure in throwing events is removed.

6-6-1 Brings the high school javelin specifications in line with current IAAF rules which are used in the high school event.

7-4-16 Clarifies that it is a foul if the competitor takes off from two feet or uses weights or artificial aids.

9-6-1 PEN, 9-6-4 PEN Corrects a clerical error and clarifies disqualification.

2012 Track and Field Editorial Changes

1-1-1, 1-1-2, 2-2-3, 4-3-1b(5), 5-3-7 NOTE 1, 6-2-3, 6-2-5, 6-2-6, 6-2-7, 6-6-2, 7-1-3, 7-1-4, 7-2-2, 7-3-3, 7-4-16d, 7-6-29e, 9-4-2, 9-7-4

2012 Track and Field Points of Emphasis

1. Starter positions
2. Exchange zones
3. Jewelry and uniforms
4. Safety around landing systems
5. Throwing event safety

How do we find the rule changes for Michigan? I am really hoping for a tape rule change in MI because my daughter likes a larger diameter grip but has an Essx pole with a narrow grip. If we could put more layers of tape on it she could grip it better!

Kindig_girls wrote:How do we find the rule changes for Michigan? I am really hoping for a tape rule change in MI because my daughter likes a larger diameter grip but has an Essx pole with a narrow grip. If we could put more layers of tape on it she could grip it better!

It's a national rule change, so it should apply in Michigan.

Hey kindig_girl, check out http://www.mhsaa.com/ . It's the link to the governing body for high school sports in your State. I don't know when they will update for the upcoming school year but they will eventually post the new rules. They have what chances were done over the last couple of years. Looks like they follow the NHFA rules.