wearing ear buds WHILE playing

[shoeshine boy 241]

just curious if any of you are seeing people trying to play with ear buds/Air Pods in their ears?
some background: we have a goalie in our Rec League (draft every season, all skill levels together, goalies play in a time slot rather than a set team) who plays with Air Pods in his ears. as a league, we've been looking the other way and it's not really been a problem. recently a skater wanted to know if they could wear them while playing as well. The Board (we are independent, not run by a rink) discussed it and said no and we told the goalie that he'd have to stop. the goalie basically stomped off in a fit.
we play by USA Hockey rules but are not USA Hockey affiliated. the closest USA Hockey rule is the one about jewelry but IMO, that doesn't apply. in the end, we can do what we want but we have determined that it is a safety issue. not only because the ear buds aren't secured but also because the player needs to be able to hear what's going on around him.
I was just wondering if any of y'all had dealt with this issue. TIA.

[IPv6Freely 2082]

Even if you were using USA Hockey rules, you as a league have the right to override them. That said, I would 100% ban earbuds while playing. There's just no reason to do it, and its a safety hazard both for the person wearing them (can't hear) as well as others if they fall out and get stepped on. I'm in total agreement with your league in banning them. 

That said, I have definitely considered wearing them while playing goal in pickup but never during a game. I kinda thought about mounting some motorcycle/ski helmet style speakers to the ear hole area of my mask for pickups lol

[stick9 881]

Try some "Bone Conduction" Bluetooth headphones. They don't block off the ear canal like earbuds do. If you keep the volume reasonable you should still be able to hear what's going on around you. They may or may not work with your helmet/mask. 

[shoeshine boy 241]

3 hours ago, stick9 said:

Try some "Bone Conduction" Bluetooth headphones. They don't block off the ear canal like earbuds do. If you keep the volume reasonable you should still be able to hear what's going on around you. They may or may not work with your helmet/mask. 

thanks but I don't want to wear headphones while playing. if I did, I'd just stay home and play NHL23 on the Playstation.

I was just wondering if any other leagues have dealt with this. some of our people are acting like we're trampling on their Constitutional Rights or something. 🤣

[IPv6Freely 2082]

3 hours ago, stick9 said:

Try some "Bone Conduction" Bluetooth headphones. They don't block off the ear canal like earbuds do. If you keep the volume reasonable you should still be able to hear what's going on around you. They may or may not work with your helmet/mask. 

Considered that, though thats one reason I loved the original airpods so much. They stayed in, and I had no problem hearing the world around me. I mean, at the expense of audio quality 

I've never actually tried a pair of bone conduction headphones. Maybe I should. 

[caveman27 208]

On 3/14/2023 at 4:05 PM, shoeshine boy said:

just curious if any of you are seeing people trying to play with ear buds/Air Pods in their ears?
some background: we have a goalie in our Rec League (draft every season, all skill levels together, goalies play in a time slot rather than a set team) who plays with Air Pods in his ears. as a league, we've been looking the other way and it's not really been a problem. recently a skater wanted to know if they could wear them while playing as well. The Board (we are independent, not run by a rink) discussed it and said no and we told the goalie that he'd have to stop. the goalie basically stomped off in a fit.
we play by USA Hockey rules but are not USA Hockey affiliated. the closest USA Hockey rule is the one about jewelry but IMO, that doesn't apply. in the end, we can do what we want but we have determined that it is a safety issue. not only because the ear buds aren't secured but also because the player needs to be able to hear what's going on around him.
I was just wondering if any of y'all had dealt with this issue. TIA.

Probably a crazy question, but why would anyone not want to hear what's going on around you? Teammates and goalies need to be communicating to each other on the ice and on the bench, not just zone out from everyone else. If you are deaf or hard of hearing, that's a different story.

[IPv6Freely 2082]

Yeah, doing it in a game is silly. A pickup on the other hand, who cares.