Issue with referree...what are your thoughts?

My son plays center on his varsity football team. This happened before the game today.

Referee: That kid is going to have to tape that thing up.

Assistant coach: That thing is his insulin pump and he needs to wear it. (he wears the pump at his waist facing inward)

Referee: He has to tape that thing up. It might hurt another player.

Assistant coach: That pump costs $6,000 and he needs to wear it for the control of his diabetes. Covering it up with tape might damage the pump buttons and it would be very uncomfortable for the player.

Referee: I guess he could just not play then.

Assistant coach (who is my husband): He has been playing with the pump at his waist for six years and the referees have never had a problem with it. I guess they are just not as smart as you.

Referee: I don't need your sarcasm.

===Referees have a group meeting and decide to let him play with it.=====

We have tried removing the pump and and replacing the missed basal, but it hasn't gone well.

What are your thoughts?

 

I think it is moot. He was allowed to play with it (as well he should! I almost want to smack that ref for his ignorance.). If he wears it at all times, he wears it at all times. Period.

 

We are MDI here. So a general question I have is are pumps really built to withstand football?

 

One might ask if human bodies are built to withstand football, but to your question, "yes".

 

He has always worn an Animas pump - 20/20 and then a Ping. They are almost indestructible. Never had a problem with sports damage.

 

Personally I would buy a spibelt and keep the pump in that, where they really can't see what it is. Where does he keep it during football where a ref could see it? My son played 4 years of Varsity football and not one ref ever noticed his pump, sometimes he wore it, often he did not, it just depended on the game. But when he did wear it, it was always in a spibelt.

 

Definitely. I don't play football but I have fallen hundreds of times skiing at speeds in excess of 40-50 mph and landed on my pump without issue.

 

I agree with this.

Also, the ref may have just been following the rules; I know there can be very strict guidelines about what a player is allowed to wear. I think it was in 8th grade that I was disqualified from a track meet for a belly button piercing (we wore sports bras so it was visible on my stomach). The ref came over to complain about my pump tubing but when I said I would take it off for the race he then noticed the piercing. Apparently, it could get caught on another runner. The ref said I could take it out but I had recently gotten it pierced after years of debate with my parents so I was not taking it out! Anyway, after that, for long distance races I just made sure to have the site hidden on my bottom and wore the pump in a pouch under my shorts and it wasn't an issue.

ETA: I would just like to add that I no longer have a belly button piercing. It was just a very unfortunate phase.....

 

^^^Love this!!! We've always wondered what Cutler's concussions do to his BGs.

 

Sometimes we butt heads ... not this time.

 

Butting heads in my experience, is usually, in the end, a valuable thing. :wink: