Quote:
Originally Posted by bsnalex
This has been bugging me for a while - and it's not limited to softball, it's effectively every sport there is (except soccer).
But why in America do leagues and systems not play by rulesets that have been codified by the international governing body for the sport? I mean, the NBA doesn't play by FIBA rules, the NHL has it's own code. Softball has to be the worst perpetrators, having different rule sets for High School, NCAA, adult amateur etc. We've got NFHS, ASA, NCAA.
Why doesn't every system out there just play by ISF? At their hearts, the rules of the game are the same, but then each ruleset has variations on the semantics of the game.
It just frustrates me from time to time--selfishly because my fed plays ISF so alot of these rulesets are lost on me and the board doesn't give me the help i usually need  |
honestly, my initial response before reading anything else below is ... why doesn't ISF use a code from the countries that invented the sport? Why is your default that those who established the game in the first place should change to use the rules of some newcomer (relatively speaking)... it seems to me you're asking the question backward.
As to why there's different rules for different levels - it would not make sense for the rules for adults and kids to match - they have different skillsets and abilities, and safety is a different level of concern for adults and kids. College lands in between adults and kids.