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A few days ago, we had our county meet and the field judge came up to me and told me that our pit is "dangerous." He said that the top pad was too small and because some of the clasps were broken, it was unsafe to jump on. Although our pit is old and worn down, it is by far not the worst pit I have ever jumped on and to my knowledge (before the other day) was 100% legal. The top pad, is what was sent to us from the factory 9 years ago when we had to buy an extra mat to go with our pit to make it legal according to the NFHS. It completly covers the entire vaulting area, bottom mats, and only 4 inches on the outside are visible. The clasp issue I can understand, I zip tied them down to make the officials happy. We have held numerous meets over the years, and no one has ever complained, coach, official, parent, etc. This official has been here before and seen our pit, so why if he chosing now to point this out? Is there a new rule that I'm not aware of that you need to top pad to hang over the whole pit?? I'm irriatated and confused, especially because we don't have the money to just go out and buy new things if there are no new rules in place.

What do you mean by "hang over the entire pit"?

This happened two years ago, but one of the field judges claimed that since the top cover did not come to the edge of the base pads, due to shifting and shrinking from usage and breaking down of the foam, that it would be illegal in the coming years. That was two years ago and no one has said a word about it since. We have one of the nicest pits in our region and I was absolutely shocked when an official attempted to make up a rule on the spot. Since then, this same official has gained a reputation for doing similar moves at other events. Luckily, he has stayed away from my pole vault pit though

You should have seen the pit we jumped on for our STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!! It was obviously to small (they had three top pads on the pit to try and make it legal but the top cover didn't cover the pads they were trying to use as front extensions and they only had half of the standard pads. Obviously not a legal pit!!! I would love to have had that official it there!!!

That is odd considering most companies that make pits, make the top cover about 3 inches short all the way around to keep things snug.