ASA rules in high school?

[greymule]

Stopped by Tuesday to watch a girls' FP game in the little town of Morris, Alabama. Two good teams playing on as fine a field as I ever saw, including college. Perfectly level, beautifully groomed infield, immaculate grass. (The home team is top ranked in the state in the second-highest size level; the other team was quite competitive.)

Got to talking to one of the spectators, who it turned out is the father of the coach of one of the teams. Since the umpires' caps showed a 5-letter abbreviation (AHSAA?), I asked whether they played by Fed rules or some other code. He immediately responded "ASA," which surprised me since there was no safety base. I pursued this a little, but he was certain.

He also told me that as recently as the 1990s, the girls played slow pitch, but went to FP as the result of some lawsuits. That also seemed a little odd to me, since I thought that by the 1990s FP had already been well established pretty much everywhere.

The umps were good but missed one call: on a swinging strike 3 scooped by the catcher, the runner walked a few steps toward the dugout (1B side) and then ran to 1B. The umps conferred and called her out (apparently neither saw the scoop.)

Anyway, is it possible that Alabama uses ASA rules for school?

[CajunNewBlue]

more likely possible... another parent that didnt know what the h3ll was going.
Just guessing.

[Skahtboi]

There are some states that are not part of the National Federation of High Schools, and I believe that they usually use ASA as their rule set of choice.

[Dukat]

Alabama uses NFHS

Mississippi does too and Mississippi still has Slowpitch as well as Fastpitch in High School just different seasons.

[strike4]

I am an Alabama high school softball umpire, I can assure you that Alabama uses NFHS rules for both public and private schools.

Most high schools in Alabama went to fastpitch in the mid to late 1990s. We are very proud of the progress that the GRITS (Girls Raised In The South) have made in such a short time frame.

[greymule]

Interesting to know. The two schools (Hayden and Jordan) obviously had strong programs and a solid fan following.

A tournament was scheduled at that field today through Saturday, so I went by this afternoon, but they told me that all high schools sports had been canceled because of the swine flu threat.

Where are you in Alabama, strike4?

[ASA/NYSSOBLUE]

New York uses ASA with certain modifications - especially, since our chief clinician/UIC/whatever is Jay Miner - mechanics.

[LIIRISHMAN]

Originally Posted by ASA/NYSSOBLUE

New York uses ASA with certain modifications - especially, since our chief clinician/UIC/whatever is Jay Miner - mechanics.

I'll second ASA/NYSSOBLUE'S answer here on L.I. N.Y. we use ASA rules with modifications for Jr.High.( 3 BB's per inning as well as 3 steals per inning also 10 players must play in the field as well as 10 batters per maximum per inning.

[derwil]

Live in Helena, AL here...Using NFHS rules all year. Not sure why the parent had their head stuck in their nether regions.......

[scottk_61]

Originally Posted by derwil

Live in Helena, AL here...Using NFHS rules all year. Not sure why the parent had their head stuck in their nether regions.......

Umm, they're parents without a clue

Since when has that changed?

[JEL]

GM, Welcome south!

It is AHSAA (Alabama High School Atheletic Association).

I live on the border in Georgia and work Alabama ball in the spring (keeps baseball on the back burner!).

AHSAA ans AISA (independents) do use NFHS rules. Someone at the top doesn't like the safety base, that is why you didn't see it. Not surprising that some parents and even coaches are confused. I've had two coaches request a HBP be denied (hands are part of the bat), and another demand a "balk" to be called! Then again, I had one umpire tell me he had never heard of such a thing as a "look back rule!" It can get interesting.

A nice thing though, most of the AL schools pay on the spot, and many with cash!

Georgia uses NFHS for the public system, but GISA (independents) use unaltered ASA.

The piggy scare has halted stuff in AL, but they hope to resume area tournies on the 5th.

The first confirmed flu case in Georgia is in my own town (LaGrange). We are hanging in there!

[strike4]

Originally Posted by greymule

Interesting to know. The two schools (Hayden and Jordan) obviously had strong programs and a solid fan following.

A tournament was scheduled at that field today through Saturday, so I went by this afternoon, but they told me that all high schools sports had been canceled because of the swine flu threat.

Where are you in Alabama, strike4?

Hello Greymule,


I live in the Montgomery area. I will be calling ASA tournaments in your area this summer. Maybe we will meet at one of those. I sent you a private message last month but never heard back.

Strike4