Fed Ball - One of our local HS leagues is made up of small schools with small revenue making capabilities... Coaches volunteer and are not paid...
I called at one of these schools last week and while checking bats I found that they had 2 legal bats out of 8.... I mentioned this to the coach and she became upset due to the fact this school simply didn't have any more money to spend.. More bats were out of the question..
I'm sure that this isn't a unique situation. What do you do when you run across teams like this that barely have the resources to field a team?

Unless the bat is dented or cracked (i.e. unsafe), it is legal until championship play - for HS, I guess that would be State.

Unfortunately for these small schools, NFHS is making it
tough. In the NFHS/Referee Softball Guide 2002, which BTW
was handled out to all the umpires in our association, [44
umpires] and told to use this as printed.

<i>As of Jan. 1, 2002, "<b>grandfathered"</b> bats are
no longer permitted. The rule was changed to adhere to the
implementation date..</i> Article further stated that
Previously, players, coaches and umpires could search on the
Internet and get a liksting of approved bats on the <b>ASA
Web Site.</b> This is no longer permitted. Each bat must
bear a <b>copyright permanent/embossed mark</b>.[1-3-5]

Since I have yet to call a game, do not know how it is
actually being handled. Will find out this weekend. Been
cleared to go back to <b><font color = blue>FIELD</b></font>


glen

A clarification of my earlier post...

By <b>legal</b>, I meant "legal" (wink, wink).

In other words, unless the bat appears modified, unsafe, or clearly not a fastpitch bat, I'll allow it in normal league play.

Dakota,
Don't do that. If the bat does not have the ASA seal, do not allow it to be used. If anything happens with an illegal bat - that you allowed into the game - your insurance from your state scholastic sanctioning body (PIAA here in Pennsylvania) will not cover you. It's a shame that the team will only have 2 bats that they may use, but that's not your problem. It's the same if the school only has .50 cor balls, too. That's not our problem and I won't allow it to be my responsibility.

Under NFHS rules...........don't allow the illegal bats......as Steve said.......we could be held liable if an illegal bat were used in a contest........

From a Dads point of view......I hate the rule.........my oldest has a perfectly good bat that is approved.......but, because it is grandfathered.......is NOT legal.....Santa brought her a new bat this year because of it.........

The youngest has a perfectly good hand-me-down bat.......which is fine for league play........but if she goes to post season............no longer ok.......

I know we have to draw a line somewhere......but I wish that ASA had some other certification process that legalized some of the older legal bats........

JMHO

Joel

Joel,
While that older bat is not legal for Fed ball, ASA got gutless and backed off their own doggone bat standard. For ASA, your DD's older bat is legal. ASA sez the bat is OK if 1 of 3 conditions is met - 1)embossed seal, 2)on the grandfathered list 3)apparently manufactured prior to 1995 and the umpire(s) thinks it would have met those standards. Now since I do not know what the standards were for those older bats, it is going to be my belief that the bat would not meet those standards, so that bat ain't gonna be used - even though somebody else may just as legally allow it in the next game.

Glen,

I'm glad to here your good news about being back behind the mask.

Heres hoping your first game is a 2-1 hour and 10 minute gem.

Roger Greene

Roger

Thanks, I appreciate that. UIC called little bit ago
and said that they were three [3] tournaments in the
area, so chances are I will get in some games. I hope
I have enough sense to call it quits - if I feel I may
be pushing myself back a little early. However, the
doctor did say it was alright, just drink plenty of
fluids....Guys, he did say water. :D

glen

Steve hit this one on the head. ASA folded to the whiners and criers. There was more than enough notice given to accommodate the masses. The problem was the manufacturers saw a potential gold mine and sat back to wait for the money to roll in.

This is one of the main reasons the ASA created the pre-1995 caveat. It seems one manufacturer (H&B/Louisville Slugger) intentionally witheld some of their more popular bats from testing, hoping that the players would pony up to purchase newer, but similar models.

Instead, the players did what they did best, *****ed and moaned that ASA was forcing them to spend money. Remember, the manufacturers had 2 1/2 to 3 years notice that changes were coming. That should have been ample enough time to turn around their stock. When it became apparent what was going on, the ASA backed off on it's rule.

I am hoping to see them drop the older bats clause in the near future. On the other hand, if the players are going to be dumb enough to spend the big bucks on the bats, the manufacturers will never relent.

And please don't give me the, "I have to have that bat if I want to be competitive" crap. If you can hit, a $40 bat will work just as well as a $240 bat.

Last year, Carl Rose suggested that a return to wooden bats would not be as far fetched as many believe. I agree.

Couple of comments...

Speaking ASA JO fast pitch...

As long as ASA says my judgment determines the bat is legal, if it is a used fastpitch bat that is not dented or cracked, I'll allow it. If ASA actually has a <u>real</u> reason to declare particular bats legal or illegal, they need to have the guts to followthrough. I'm speaking of league play, not championship play.

I might have a different attitude or approach if I was dealing with AA slow pitch.

I don't call NFHS, so I don't know how picky they are. I suspect it is up to the individual states, maybe even individual conferences. If the state federation instructed all umpires to follow the bat certification rule strictly, and they did not have the "umpire judgment" rule, then I would call it like I am being paid to call it, and disallow the bat.

I don't like the "umpire judgment" on legal / illegal bats, but since the ASA doesn't have the guts to stick to the rule, why should I? In JO league play, the object is for the kids to play ball. Since I have no objective measure of the safety of a bat other than its appearance (dents, cracks, etc), that is what I will use.

Here in AZ, our state HS governing body is taking the strict view on the bats (and helmets, for that matter.) We have been told to enforce this at ALL levels of HS play. I have done four HS games up till now and had only one of those where I did not have to throw out any bats. The usual whining...we didn't know..why did they only tell us right before the season...blah, blah, blah.

We have been told to explain it thusly: This requirement first appeared in the rule book in 1998, to be implemented in 2001, last year, it was delayed another year. So, you have had FOUR YEARS notification.

We have also discovered that the bat manufacturers had some big sales recently on bats without the embossed ASA emblem, but of course they didn't bother to tell their customers that they were not legal.

Oh Well, one more thing to make our lives interesting!!!

Dakota.......for league play....we ignore the Bat rule......if the bat meets the legal criteria for a bat and is safe......we allow it.......

The only thing that I don't care for is I have 2 bats that ASA says are legal........they meet all the new criteria, they are part of the list of legal bats but cannot be used for HS ball or ASA championship play because they don't have the sticker.......

Joel

Not to sound condescending or anything, but if it were me, I would use the "non-approved" bats in practice and save the ping in the new bat for the games. I know that with my sons, I had to buy a new bat every couple of years anyway because the bats would lose their elasticity. Now granted, I never bought a $300 bat, most were in the $80-100 range, so maybe the more expensive bats last longer.

SamC

Sam, go ahead and sound condescending... we know you well enough on this board... you're allowed...

Anyhow, the expensive bats are sold on their supposed ability to impart more energy to the ball, which somehow is based in this high-tech design, which somehow seems to make the bat <u>less</u> durable, not more.

So, they sell you on the advantage that is "worth" the extra $150 or so, and then in order to keep this "advantage" ya gotta buy a new one every couple of years because the "pop" leaks out. Excellent marketing, even if the physics of it are dubious.