[WestMichBlue]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

Sorry, Forrest, but this is what I have been told by Federation folks for a few years now when questioning this exact position

Opinions are nice, but let's deal with facts.
Fact: ASA required both feet on plate.
Fact: NFHS followed ASA in its earliest book ('70's) and required both feet on plate.
Fact: ASA changed to allow step back (there was no separte male/female rules then).
Fact: NFHS followed ASA and changed to allow step back.
Fact: ASA changed rules for females only.
Fact: NFHS did not follow ASA this time.

So ask your contact if there were in the NFHS meeting 27 years ago when the ASA rule change was discussed and see what the reason for the NFHS position was at that time.

Maybe opposite to your area and beliefs, but in some areas, HS ball is barely a step above recreational ball. Many teams couldn't play at the ASA "B" level if their lives depended on it. WMB, it's about time that you just accepted that without the geographical freedom other organizations enjoy, Fed ball just doesn't stand up against good 16U-18U ball games no matter what their association.

My definition of "Rec League" is local community programs (L.L. or local organizations) where the parents pay their money and every little Johnny and Suzy gets to play - and the caliber of play is terrible. (I know; I am coaching a 12U boys team now!) Obviously no comparison to H.S. teams that are competitive, and often cut to get down to team size.

Travel Ball is another story. All-Star type teams; the best players from where ever; usually try-outs are required. I know of girls that travel 100 miles to play; I used to drive my granddaughter 70 mi (she didn't make the teams in our area); one top player from my town is playing with a team from CA! Obviously, no comparison of these teams to H.S. teams.

Strawman argument. We are discussing 16-18 yo women. What does the men's game have to do with it?

The argument express in this thread is that the step-back method is for inferior players than cannot match the ASA standard! So why do ASA men need the step-back? Are they inferior?

Yet the big question is from where did this pitcher emerge? It is not unlikely that, in spite of LL rules, a pitcher of variable experiences was recruited to play for this LL team. And no, not on a high horse, it happens.

Typo in my original post; I should have typed L.L. Big League Softball (instead of Senior League). Around here there usually is a single team per L.L. District, put together soley for tournament action. Our coach can recruit the best girls from about a hundred high schools. Plus they can go outside the District if there is no adjoining District. Those L.L. teams are good. One young lady I know only lost 3 or 4 games in 4 years pitching varsity ball, plus she led her team to a State Championship. But she wasn't good enough to pitch on the last L.L. World Series champion from this area. (But she did pitch on several travel teams over the years that reached high levels of national competition.)

ASA, and I can only assume other bodies, makes no bones about the fact that sometimes rules are put into place that just do not work for the game. Maybe that's because they do not sit back and wait for the smoke in the back room to clear while a small group of individuals decide how their game of softball should be played.

Mike - I pitched men's fastpitch for years; I umpired men's FP in upto last year. Men are spoiled when it comes to pitching. There are several parks within 30 miles of GR that support men's FP; all the umpires are told in no uncertain teams not to call IP's. ASA give's men's fastpitch what they want, including step back and making the leap legal. That is the rulebook, and at the local level we are told not to call anything. I don't think that ASA has the guts to stand up to the male FP players.

WMB