[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally posted by Dakota
I wasn't intending to make value judgments, just a couple of semi-factual observations that may relate to why some communities favor JO SP and others JO FP.

I think it is a given that at the higher levels of nearly any sport (Bass fishing may be an exception ), nearly all of the players are athletes. And, I accept that a highly skilled SP pitcher can be a valuable asset to a team.

However, looking at school-girl ball, smaller communitites may find it easier to be competitive in SP than they would be at FP if they lack a highly coached FP pitcher and a catcher adept at stopping the steal.

And, again, looking at school-girl ball, assuming JO SP emphasizes power hitting (and by extension de-emphasizes the short game), this may work against smaller kids making the team.

Maybe it's not so much finding it easier to be competitive, but easier to find more participants.