Parents/Coaches/Players:
These are the organizations that govern how you play the game. If you want
change then get involved.
November, 2007 Fastpitch Delivery By: Lacy
Lee Baker, Publisher
A record 77 countries were represented October
24-27 when the XXIII International Softball Federation (ISF) Congress
met in Manila, Philippines.
The Congress which is the ISF’s world meeting occurs once every two years.
“Back Softball” the campaign to get softball reinstated to the program
of the Summer Games for the 2016 Olympics, had a significant presence
at the ISF Congress. More information on the “Back Softball” campaign
can be found at www.backsoftball.com. Legislatively, a record 110 proposed
code changes were submitted to the ISF, 97 of which were proposed by the
ASA’s Ron Radigonda. The ASA submitted legislation had been generated
at an ASA hosted softball summit held earlier in the year in California.
The ISF legislative body, however, voted to defeat all legislation until
after the 2009 IOC vote. It did determine that it would name two representatives
from each of the six regions to review the code and make suggestions for
the 2011 Congress.
ASA Equipment Committee Notes
The ASA Equipment Certification and Testing Committee, meeting November
5 in Louisville, has announced a new "break-in" test for bats. There
now will be two tests: one for a bat right out of the wrapper and one
after the bat has been "broken in."
It was stated that certain composite bats get livelier the more they are
used and some may be exceeding the 98 mph standard currently in place
(i.e., a ball exiting a moving bat cannot exceed more than 98 mph). Therefore,
ASA-contracted engineer Lloyd Smith has developed an advanced break-in
procedure, after which the ball exit speed test will be performed again.
Since the NCAA and the NFHS both use the ASA standard, all bats used in
college, high school and ASA play have to comply. The ASA committee reported
that nine bats were recently added to the banned list: Worth: XGold, XRed,
XPST4, WWSCA, SBWKAS; Louisville Slugger: B304, SB404; Miken: Freak; and
Easton: Synergy 2.
Another lengthy discussion was held on bat doctoring, with the committee
noting that the illegal acts were occurring in fastpitch as well as slowpitch.
The more common ways bats are altered are "rolling," which accelerates
the natural process; painting, and shaving the inside of the bat.
Other action announced by the committee:
The ASA has contracted with the Sudden
Impact Research
Center in Knoxville, Tennessee,
to provide data on the base systems currently on the market. The ball
also is being discussed, specifically debating whether testing should
include a fifth property of the ball dynamic stiffness (compression after
a dynamic collision such as the bat hitting the ball; currently the ball
is tested for weight, circumference, COR (liveliness) and compression.
Experimental use of cork balls (instead of polycore) in the slowpitch
game is underway, with the main complaints that cork balls break down
faster and are more sensitive to humidity. In addition, the quality of
cork differs greatly and it is hard to be consistent.
December, 2007 Fastpitch Delivery By:
Brock Turnipseed, Director of Media Relations
NFCA Convention
was held in Las Vegas,
Nevada, with a record attendance of 1,231 members
(1,184 pre-registered). Breakdown by category was:
NCAA I 202 High School 148
NCAA II 74 Travel Ball 60
NCAA III 99 Affiliates 51
NAIA 58 International 16
NJCAA 54 Non-Members 10
CalJC 25 College Assistants 387
Proposal Defeats:
That the NFCA should petition the NCAA to amend the fall recruiting calendar
adopted by NCAA to allow an eight-week contact and evaluation period.
Exposure tournaments managers/owners/sponsors will agree to limit participation
at their events to the first 104 teams that register.
That the NFCA Board of Directors will approve and publish and make available
to all members a detailed income and expenditures report for each fiscal
year and a project budget for the ensuing year.
Proposal Not Moved:
That NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and junior
college schools will have no contact with high school players nor permit
unofficial visits, until the player has completed her sophomore year of
high school.
To recommend to the NAIA that the number of players allowed in uniform
in the post season be increased to 20.
To recommend to the NJCAA that the ball used in the NJCAA championships
be the same ball selected and used by the NCAA.
Proposals Passed:
That the minutes of the Board of Directors meetings be published on the
NFCA Web Site and in the NFCA newspaper.
To recommend to the National Federation of High School associations that
the pitching distance for high school softball be moved from 40 feet to
43 feet.
Travel Ball Proposals Passed:
To recommend to the travel ball governing bodies that the pitching distance
for fastpitch youth levels from 14U through all levels of 18U be changed
from 40 feet to 43 feet.
Resolved that travel ball coaches will agree albeit informally, not to
roster players who have completed a year of Division I college softball,
in which they were rostered, unless that player had previously been associated
with the intended travel ball team.
To select state travel ball representatives to assist the travel ball
group representative to the NFCA board in spreading the word about NFCA
membership, disseminating pertinent information and providing feedback
on legislation affecting travel ball coaches.
Division II:
To form a Division II Head Coaches Committee, to discuss regular and pertinent
topics in the NCAA and NFCA.
Division I:
To recommend to the NCAA National Umpire Coordinator that a national officials
evaluation form, be developed. This form would be used to evaluate umpires
in non-conference games. Forms would then be sent to the NCAA National
Umpire Coordinator to be used to assist in evaluating umpires for post-season
assigning. The National Umpire Coordinator can then send the evaluations
to the appropriate conference assigner.
All Groups that use NCAA Softball Rules:
To recommend to the NCAA Softball Rules Committee
that in each game, both head coaches would have two challenges to REQUIRE
an umpire to ask for help. These would be used when an umpire refuses
to ask for help and a coach feels another umpire had a better view.
To recommend to the NCAA Softball Rules Committee
that when an incident report is filed by an umpire, the head coach of
the school involved MAY attach their version of the incident prior to
it being sent to any university or conference official. An amendment was
proposed to include that the opposing coach may submit his or her version
of the incident as well.
2008 NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association)
Fastpitch Delivery Updates:
NFCA celebrates 25 years in 2008. It was developed from discussions at the National
Collegiate Women’s Softball Championships in the early 1980’s. The charter members main goals for the Association
were: Awards programs for players
and coaches; A forum to discuss issues affecting
the sport and then representation of those ideas to organizations such
as the NCAA and ASA; and A means to better educate coaches and update
them on softball-related actions. The
NFCA Website (www.nfca.org) continues
to be one of the most popular softball-related sites for the internet,
with over 40 million hits in 2008. They
continue to update the site to make it even more useful and appealing,
says Lucy Lee Baker, NFCA executive director.
2008 ASA Equipment Committee Notes:
NFCA Fastpitch Delivery, March 2008 addition indicates the Division I
Head Coaches Committee (HCC) has issued questions regarding penalties
appropriate for a team, player or manufacturer for using illegal equipment. They are also going to contact the bat manufacturers
regarding the standard of bat being used and if the NCAA sets its own
standard, will the manufacturers produce bats
according to those standards?
December, 2008 Fastpitch Delivery by: Lacy Lee
Baker, Publisher
NFCA Convention was held in Marco Island, Florida, December 10-13, 2008. More than 920 coaches took part in this year’s
convention. The convention had
its usual assortment of speakers, group activities, sponsor exhibitors
and social entertainment. 2008
Attendee Totals from pre-registration numbers was estimated that the convention
probably would have about 1,000 final attendees with 927 pre-registered
attendees. The breakdown was as follows:
NCAA I 171 High School 97
NCAA II 76 Travel Ball 43
NCAA III 96 Affiliates 34
NAIA 36 International 2
NJCAA 41 Non-Members 4
CalJC 6 College Assistants 321 Total:
927
Proposal Defeats:
Committee faced several roadblocks in moving forward. The NCAA does not want to get into the bat testing
business. Bat safety/performance
is an economic issue; not all programs can purchase more bats or a variety
of bats. Plus the speed of the
game was not shared.
The ASA meeting in November, 2008, was the 77th Annual meeting
in Oklahoma City. The Council members approved a $2 per team registration
fee and $3 per umpire registration fee, effective 2009. The Council considered several proposals affecting
fastpitch players; *Elimination of college players in 18U; *43 foot pitching
distance for 18UB and 16UA; and * Metal spikes for 14U, 16U and 18u.
All proposals were defeated.
Hot Topic was Umpires:
The group stated that one major problem was consistent rules interpretations
across the country. It also was
the feeling of the group that softball was losing good umpires to baseball,
since baseball generally pays more. Some
coaches felt that college softball umpire fees were already too high,
so some did not want to see an increase.
It was the general consensus that good umpires were being lost,
sometimes due to age, with younger, not so seasoned umpires getting those
spots. It was the feeling of the group that umpires
needed to be held accountable and coaches didn’t see how that was part
of the current process. Umpires
should be required to watch video to help them improve, especially where
the strike zone is concerned. Video
is readily available for teams. Kathy
Strahm, NCAA national umpire coordinator, indicated an umpire clinic schedule
was being announced and that coaches were welcome.
The clinics are scheduled for San Jose,
Tampa, Houston, Philadelphia and Indianapolis
in January 2009. The fee to attend
is $30.
October - December 2009 Fastpitch Delivery
Softball’s hopes were dashed when golf and rugby were officially
voted in as the remaining two sports for the 2016 Olympic Games. The International
Olympic Committee sited the host for 2016 to be Rio de Janeiro. The decision
came down to which two sports add the most value, stated IOC President
Jacques Rogge. The IOC release stated that the key factors in determining
a sport’s suitability for the Olympic programme include youth appeal,
universality, popularity, good governance, respect for athletes and respect
for the Olympic values. Rogge, a former rugby player, is known in Olympic
circles as a proponent of his sport.
After several years of experimentation by NFHS (National Federation
of State High School Association) it was announced that the high school
pitching distance will change from 40 feet to 43 feet in the 2010-11 school
year. Creating a better balance between the offense and the defense was
the major rationale for the rule change. “Our main thrust is getting
the defense more involved” said Mary Struckhoff, NFHS assistant
director and liaison to the Softball rules Committee. “When more
balls are hit into play, the defense is more involved in the game, thus
enhancing skill development.”
ASA 78th Annual Council Meeting held in November, 2009, focused on pitching
distance and metal cleats. The 43 foot pitching distance went into affect
for the ASA Gold and 18A two years ago, was discussed for the 18B, 16U
and 14U classifications. It was approved for the 18B, 16U but not for
14U.The NFHS had approved the 43 foot distance earlier this year for high
school, and many felt the move for the high school-age players was needed
for consistency.
The use of metal cleats, which the high school federation had approved
in summer of 2008, also was debated and approved for JO fastpitch girls
18U A/B, Gold and 16U A/B classifications (along with boys fastpitch).
A proposal that has been considered by the Council for the last five
years was finally approved. Once a player participates in an intercollegiate
softball program for a university, college, or junior/community college,
she is ineligible to play in the Junior Olympic Class “B”
and “Gold” classifications. Currently, the council is considering
emergency legislation that also eliminates Division I players from 18A.
Proposal:
The NCAA does not want to get into the bat testing business. However,
NCAA sponsored bat testing may become a reality for NCAA Divisions I,
II, and III, if the recommendations by the NCAA Softball Rules Committee
is approved by the PROP (Playing Rules Oversight Panel). NCAA has been
secretly testing bats for the past three years and feels there is enough
data testing information to make a broad assumption. Currently there is
data on bats from all manufacturers and all types of bats (aluminum, composite,
bats made under the old contract and bats made under the new contracts.
ASA will still initially certify the bats with the protocol refined in
2008.
NFCA Convention:
NFCA Convention was held in Nashville, with over 1,000 final attendees
celebrating NFCA’s 25th Anniversary. The convention had its usual
assortment of speakers, group activities, sponsor exhibitors and social
entertainment. 2009 Attendee Totals from pre-registration numbers was
estimated that the convention probably would have about 1,000 final attendees
with 999 pre-registered attendees. The breakdown was as follows:
NFCA 27th Annual Convention will be held in San Diego, California ~ December
8-11, 2010.
NCAA will expand its bat testing protocol at the 2010 NCAA Division
I Women’s Softball Championship by using portable barrel compression
testing machines at as many as nine sites during a championship weekend.
If a bat tests “hot”, it will be removed immediately by the
committee for further testing, and the bat will not be returned to the
team. “It is a coach’s responsibility to legally equip his
or her team, so we hope coaches will take advantage of the pre-competition
testing on a voluntary basis” said Dee Abrahamson, NCAA softball
secretary-rules editor and associate director of athletics at Northern
Illinois University. “The data will also provide excellent feedback
to manufacturers regarding the effects of collegiate use on their product”.
