the contract is worthless if the state championship ends up being decided by the ball.

Last year these were clearly a detriment to the quality of play - period. end of statement. A year and a half ago I bought my son 25 of the Nike World Cup replica (the $19.95 version of the $180 real one) and the were infintely better that the Spoilding balls.

Pay them the contract, put up their banner and buy match balls that won't influenece the outcome of the most important games of the year.