Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am beginning to put together requests for possible changes to ASA rules for submission this fall.

One involves the Co-Ed game and I would appreciate your opinions as umpires. Please note, I am dealing with ASA, but am interested to hear opinions by those who work all bodies.

Quote:

1. Do you work Co-ed games in your area?

Response:

Quote:

2. Do you like/want to work Co-ed games in your area?

Response:

Quote:

3. If not, is there a particular reason other than it not being available to your association?

Response:

Quote:

4. Do you believe there should only be one ball used?

Response:

Quote:

5. Does the amount of testosterone on the field tend to push you away from the game?

Response:



If you are a lurker and/or don't feel comfortable responding on the board, feel free to e-mail me with your opinions. Please us "Co-ed Opinions" in your subject line as to avoid deletion as spam.

Thanks,

[Edited by IRISHMAFIA on Jul 27th, 2003 at 07:44 AM]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by IRISHMAFIA
... snip ...

Quote:

1. Do you work Co-ed games in your area?

Response: Some corec, not many.

Quote:

2. Do you like/want to work Co-ed games in your area?

Response: I don't like the non-competitive, endless clinic levels. But I am an umpire, so can and will make the calls regardless of gender or age.

Quote:

3. If not, is there a particular reason other than it not being available to your association?

Response: I don't like the non-competitive, endless clinic levels (not just corec).

Quote:

4. Do you believe there should only be one ball used?

Response: don't care

Quote:

5. Does the amount of testosterone on the field tend to push you away from the game?

Response: Yes, not just corec.
It depends on how the females deal with it, or if you are referring to them.

Thanks,

[Edited by CecilOne on Jul 29th, 2003 at 08:19 AM]

1 YES
2 YES, It is a good "community" sport
3 N/A
4 Doesnt matter to me
5 Have not noticed as a problem (most co-ed here is church
league, and really played for fun).

Gool Ole co-ed
 

Answers

1. Yes, around 100 games a year

2. Yes, it is actually a nice break sometimes and it is the only way we can get women involved in SP it seems in this area

3. --

4. Have only seen it played with the 2 different sizes and
dont really see a reason for change.

5. Yes and no, it does happen but is usally pretty rare
and when handled correctly the player(s) will make a
fool of themselves and tuck there head in and leave it
alone.....

6. Do a better job in the rule book defining how they want
outfield & infields position played in the co-ed ball
and ADD the penalty phrase that is not in the rule book
but has been on the last few test...

JMOs'

Don

co-ed opinions
 

Glad to see someone giving some thought to the co-ed game, a useful recruiting tool for men's and women's softball.

1,2,3 - yes, yes, yes -- broke in doing co-ed ball and always want it to be part of my schedule.
4 - both the 14-inch and the 11-12 inch work successfully. It's important to make sure teams know what they're signing up for. I've seen some teams disappointed when they realize early in a season that they would have preferred the other style of play (and I've seen the disappointment go both ways).
5 - Testosterone poisoning calls for some special sensitivity on the part of the umpires, but it's no worse than beer-soaked players in any league. I concur with the other respondents that alcohol is a bigger problem in co-ed or any leagues. If anything, I think a socially manageable level of social-sexual attraction between the players helps bring them out to the field every week. Most of the successful co-rec leagues I've been part of are Sunday-in-the-park social gatherings played almost completely for fun; players who want to win tournaments and advance through the ranks of competition would almost always go away bored.

Possible rules changes: The two-base walk for males has gone through so many contortions that nobody understands it any more. It was designed to promote gender equity (don't walk a man to get to a woman), but it's perceived as pandering to so-called "weaker" females. I'd also like to see some way to avoid crowding outfielders into the infield when a weak-batting player is at the plate. Seeing ten players standing on the infield dirt has to discourage a batter who can't reach the outfield.

Kentucky Blue

coed opinions
 

I do many different level coed leagues. All of them drink, and use the same ball, and have testosterone problems.
I like the ladies to have the advantage of having a smaller ball to hit. Many leagues use a perimeter for the male outfielders to stay out, and also have Male-anti-"Ball-Hog" rules. Its frankly a game that is more trouble than it's worth. A church league I would imagine is about the only enjoyable one I would see.

[b]1. Do you work Co-ed games in your area?
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Response: I only work a Church Co-ed league.
quote:
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2. Do you like/want to work Co-ed games in your area?
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Response: Not Really.

quote:
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3. If not, is there a particular reason other than it not being available to your association?
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Response: The pace of the game is what I do not like along with the constant switching of balls. Our Church Co-ed league uses the regular size ball and we typically get at least 6 innings in on a time limit of 80 minutes.

quote:
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4. Do you believe there should only be one ball used?
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Response: Yes, most definitely. That would probably help to get in more than 5 innings or help to finish on time.

quote:
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5. Does the amount of testosterone on the field tend to push you away from the game?
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Response: I only work slowpitch when I have nothing else going on. I prefer youth games (Even with the parents, etc..) over Adult Sports.

In another thread, I said:
"What is really a pain is the imaginary home plate "line" used by seniors and now some corec. It can be difficult to get a line of sight when the throw is coming from 1st or you are alone and the previous play was at a base. Not to mention getting used to the wide turns and foul ground base path from 3rd to home".

Please try to keep this out of the ASA rules for corec.

co-ed
 

1. Do you work Co-ed games in your area?

Response: Some.

2. Do you like/want to work Co-ed games in your area?

Response: Yes, but I prefer male slow-pitch in some leagues where the co-ed is of such poor quality (pitchers cannot throw strikes, fielding is bad).

3. If not, is there a particular reason other than it not being available to your association?

Response: See #2.


4. Do you believe there should only be one ball used?

Response: We only use a 12" for males and females, which seems to work fine.

5. Does the amount of testosterone on the field tend to push you away from the game?

I find myself more interested in fast-pitch, as opposed to SP, given the whining by the players (male and female), but I still love the SP game and plan to call both. As for testosterone, I don't see this impacting co-ed, as opposed to male-only, SP. I'm not sure I get the drift of this question. I see much more of a testosterone problem in male-only than co-ed. The only problem I have with co-ed is when the play quality is poor, but you get that with male only also in certain leagues.

[Edited by Tap on Jul 29th, 2003 at 10:55 AM]

1-Yes
2-Yes
3-N/A
4-From a player standpoint, I find that using two balls levels the playing field somewhat for our female players. Last year we only used the 12", and this year we tried using 12" for males and 11" for females. I found that there were more hits for the females this year. It adds a little time to the game to keep switching, but I think it helped our league.
5-No. I find calling co-rec no different than calling a men's league. Sure, the men seems to posture a little more, but usually they look even more goofy when I keep my composure and call the game as I would a men's league.