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I'm curious - what is your role here where you're instructing both the TD and the UIC? Are you the guy the TD hired to supply the umps? In any tournament I have run this call is either coming to me or the UIC, and we're collaborating on both how to handle the ruling of that game, and then ensuring it doesn't happen again. The ruling should have come from there. It's nice to see you, as presumably responsible for the supplied umps, taking this action when necessary...I'm just surprised you needed to (or that you were the first call). As TD the UIC is accountable to me, and I'm accountable to...my wife. I assume nothing. I even started my post with some questions. Beyond that, I'm simply using common sense and deductive reasoning based on my experience in the game, as a participant and an observer, to come to the most likely scenarios and conclusions...knowing there are always exceptions. DC isn't asking for an IFF if his fielder caught the ball...nor if his team successfully pulled off a triple play. It's pretty easy to deduce why he wants IFF called here. Whatever happened in this pre-game agreement, regardless of how the conversation occurred, DC was certainly prepared to argue the tourney rules, and the incorrectness of that agreement, by the time the scenario came up in the game. If I were to speculate - at pre-game he wasn't the coach that told the umpire there was no IFF, and he wasn't sure himself so he didn't argue it. He went to the bench, looked up the rules,(maybe mentioned it to the Assistant, who got curious), found the IFF rule, and decided he'd deal with it only if it came up (and hey, maybe it will work in his favor until then)... if he actually vehemently argued pre-game that there was no IFF, I'd could see telling him 'tough luck' when he argued the opposite later in the game. Regardless of any of that, it doesn't sound to me like it was an "agreement"...it sounds to me like the ump asked the coaches about the rules (which I have run across many times - I get it, with all the variety between leagues and tournaments), and it sounds like at least one of the coaches misinformed, probably unintentionally, the umpire. That was not an agreement to play without the IFF, it was a misunderstanding of the rules based on bad information. As such, it should be treated like any misunderstanding/misapplication of the rules - via appropriate protest procedures. I guess it depends on what you define as "often"...it's certainly not as often as the next age bracket, and the one after that. Physiologically speaking, a lot of kids at this age haven't fully developed depth perception so those routine fly balls ain't so routine. And only time solves that. But, as you allude, that's beside the point. There will be exceptions, but at 8-10 years old, in my far-too-long experience, they typically haven't developed that level of strategic (devious?) thinking yet. They just want to catch the ball. It would also be extremely rare to see that approach coached at that age - you're still dealing with basic drills at this point. So, whether or not there's an IFF rule has very little bearing strategically, or tactically, on how the defense plays. With very rare exceptions at those younger ages the IFF rule is not protecting the offense, it's rewarding the defense. I'll take the once in ten blue moons accidental double play over commonly dropped/misplayed balls that are IFF auto-outs for an eight year old that is thrilled just to get his bat on the ball, simply due to a rule created because of a loophole exploited by adults. Even at 12-13 years old, even on club teams, it would be uncommon to find an infielder who is savvy enough to recognize the play, and skilled enough to pull it off (and have teammates aware and skilled enough to help him turn the DP/TP). I like seeing those tournaments and leagues that drop IFF for the younglings. It's not about when those fly balls are easily caught. It's about when they can be turned into cheap DP's. You don't need the rule until you reasonably and realistically need to start protecting the offense. Club ball that may be about 12...rec ball it could be even 14. IMHO.

I've seen catchers, including at least one in MLB, keep the HSM on when fielding a fly ball. Try one on - the vision is much better than a traditional mask.

He does and there is literally zero discussion there.

Ok, but Gil has his own "page/section" ....

😬 LOL Sidebar - About two years after coaching a kid from 6 to 8 I saw him show up with glasses. It sure helped explain a lot of things

You assume a lot of "facts" that may or may not be true. Absent those assumptions, I would not allow a coach to game the umpires and other team. YMMV.

I would have handled this as you did, MT73. I'm not going to impose the IFF call after the fact because both teams apparently relied on the pre-game understanding, however misguided that was. Besides, this was an U9 game, for pete's sake, not the WS. For whatever reason, the umpires in your case were relying on the coaches for the local rules. Consequently, they thought they were calling the game by the tournament rules, although they were misinformed. I'm curious: was the pop-up caught or dropped? Did the IFF no-call affect anything?

Call it according to tournament rules. Ground rules can't trump black-letter rules, no matter how many people agree to them.

I would try different HSM styles and/or sizes before giving up on them. Or see if you have eye protection options that work better. Catchers wear sunglasses under HSM's all the time, so it seems like you should be able to find a workable solution. Good luck!