7th Grade Team and Parents,

I have spoken with several girls and parents recently who have mentioned that they're leaving practices with lots of scratches and other wounds. Basketball is a contact sport and injuries and accidents will happen. However, we want to eliminate unnecessary risks of hurting each other, especially at practices.

With this in mind, starting tomorrow (Wed, Sept 2), I will start performing fingernail checks before each practice. If I find that a girl's nails are a concern, I will allow them to participate in non-contact drills but not in any of our scrimmaging activities that day. I would encourage them to consider keeping clippers and a nail file in their basketball or toiletry/make-up bag so they can correct the issue at the start of any practice as necessary and participate fully. Additionally, all jewelry that can be removed needs to be removed at practice. This is already a requirement at games, so we'll implement this in practice as well.

I'm sorry for any inconvenience but feel this is necessary at this time.