High schools ban naked weigh-ins for wrestling

[Danee]

The rationale is correct, in my opinion, but its sad that its come to this, not for the athletes, but just in general.

No more naked weigh-ins in high school wrestling, not in this age of cell-phone cameras and easy access to the Internet.

Among wrestling rules changes approved last week by the National Federation of State High School Associations is that starting next season competitors must weigh in wearing "suitable" undergarments.

That means something covering the buttocks, groin and (in the case of girls) the breasts.

"The concern is technology. We're getting into cell phones getting into weigh-in areas. It's a privacy thing," said Bob Colgate, assistant director of the Indianapolis-based association.

There have been breaches of that privacy.

"There is every year," Colgate said. "If I was in a state association office, I'd rather have someone upset at me that their daughter or son was a tenth of a pound overweight than call and tell me, 'Why is their picture on the Internet?' "

With weight classes in wrestling, a tenth of a pound can prevent a wrestler from competing at that weight. That was motivation for some to totally strip.

The previous rule was they could wear "no more" than an undergarment, and there was a rationale for that. Weigh-ins also are when wrestlers undergo checks for skin conditions such as ringworm. It is a total body check of limbs and torsos.

"They didn't want you covering up some kind of communicable skin condition," said Dale Pleimann, chairman of the association's wrestling rules committee.

The new rule is about images spreading on the Internet.

"With cell phones and (video) recordings and pictures and stuff like that, privacy issues were a great concern," Pleimann said. "All it takes is one time. With the ease of putting stuff like that on the Internet, YouTube and all those things, we just felt it's better to make sure that everybody is appropriately covered."

Colgate also said the rule accommodates female doctors and athletic trainers doing skin checks on males and vice versa.

Before last season, the NCAA made a rules change that wrestlers must weigh in wearing briefs, boxers or a competition singlet.

It also cited privacy and the increased number of female athletic trainers, doctors and administrators.

The NCAA had allowed naked weigh-ins. In international freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling outside of the school setting, the rule is that wrestlers must weigh in wearing their competition singlets. That was done at last week's U.S. Open in Cleveland.


From: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100502/SPORTS0810/5030313/1003/SPORTS/High-schools-ban-naked-weigh-ins-for-wrestling

This photo is in the Classic Section of our galleries and its simplicity and innocence is wonderful. Its something our kids will miss, thanks to scum and idiots.

[brandon]

I really don't think that cellphones are the real motivating issue here. This has more to do with the societal change in attitudes toward nudity. Also, parents and school administrators prefer to avoid situations where coaches and other staff see students nude, in light of allegations of teachers hitting on students.

[Danee]

Humm..I do.  But thats ok! 

[Nude_not_rude]

yeah camera phone and the ease of a pic going onto the net are the real cause here. Another concern is the litigious society and the prudes...sad really.

[Five9]

Its a shame that this happened, to a certain extent. At school I witnessed a couple of nude weigh-ins in the locker rooms after I had finished with baseball practice. I was pretty surprised to find that the wrestlers weren't trying to hide the fact that they were nude and even acted as if they were clothed, like most of us here would in a nude situation. Each year we also get about one or two girls who join the wrestling team, just last year i remember both of the girls who made the team were walking around in their bikinis amongst the nude or nearly boys awaiting their weigh-in. I cant imagine anyone having a cell phone on them during the weigh-ins since most were nude or nearly nude but it happens and each school is different with their policies.

[mrj001]

My high school never had a problem with nude weigh ins, at least it didn't 10 years ago I don't know about now though.  But back then, weigh ins were done co-ed and most people would be in their underwear but a large number of boys and girls would go nude for the weigh in.  No one was ever uncomfortable with the nudity, but cell phone cameras weren't nearly as common back then as they are today. 


Also the wrestling singlet’s that the wrestlers wore in my school were of such a light colour and thin material that they didn't hide any thing.  The size and shape of male genitalia were clearly shown, even the amount of pubic hair one had, and the girls always had a very noticeable camel toe and nipple pokies.  The same with the school swim suits.

[rc]

I can see the point but its a tricky issue

[Danee]

I do not see anything wrong in this requirements. I passed my weight-ins in my high school in boxers. The light underwear will not make any sense for correct measures.
The bad thing is that such requirements are too much concentrated on the topic of being nude. Some kids are so natural from their early childhood and such requirements will make them think that it is something wrong of being nude.

Those are good points too...

[nakedfun]

too bad i cannot view the gallery .
web site says i do not have access .

:-(

[Danee]

too bad i cannot view the gallery .
web site says i do not have access .

:-(

Hi!  Some helpful advice, if I may?

1. Go to your introduction
2. Read the welcomes and requests in there (especially from Todd)
3. Go to your intro again
4. Click on modify
5. Tell us more about you (again, read the topic at the top about advice on making an intro and its in Todds welcome message as well (the link)
6. Go the top of the main page
7. Read the rules
8. See part about access to varying areas
9. Know if you do all this, we do welcome you!

-D

[JayJay]

too bad i cannot view the gallery .
web site says i do not have access .

:-(

Hi!  Some helpful advice, if I may?

1. Go to your introduction
2. Read the welcomes and requests in there (especially from Todd)
3. Go to your intro again
4. Click on modify
5. Tell us more about you (again, read the topic at the top about advice on making an intro and its in Todds welcome message as well (the link)
6. Go the top of the main page
7. Read the rules
8. See part about access to varying areas
9. Know if you do all this, we do welcome you!

-D

Well said yet again Danee. seems like you are having to post this in every thread that the gallery is menchaned.

[Fitz1980]

On one hand I think that nude weigh ins are silly to begin with.  Realistically they're just a way to use the letter of the law to defeat the spirit of the law.  The fair thing would be for everyone to get weighed in their singlet since that's what they will wear in the match & than everyone's would weight the same.  The whole weight class thing in wrestling is a tricky issue anyway.  I know a lot of schools have recently relaxed the standards between weight classes because of a few high profile deaths.  Basically some kids died because they were starving themselves or overheating themselves in a steam room trying to cut just a few pounds off before the match just so they could meet the weight class requirement. 

[Cabding]

I've never had a weigh in for sports, but as i understand it, you do it however you feel like. Undies or nude its your choice. i cant imagine my underwear weighing more than a couple ounces at most. surely not enough to matter. if anybody cares to weigh thier undies lemme know. if the person getting weighed in gets fully nude, obviously its not that big a deal for them, why is a big deal to other people?

[chris14122507]

I played hockey in hs and naked is not a big deal for me. Although many young guys are very shy of their boy....

[NatureForever]

Okay. Let's say I'm nude in the locker room nude, probably trying to stall so I can be nude even longer (lol). Someone manages to sneak a picture and does whatever with it. People find out and people get mad, blah blah blah. Am I at fault, or was it the wrongdoing of the culprit? You just burned an entire forest over a few dead trees.

I understand the logic behing the prohibition, but I don't necessarily agree with it.