NFCA FINAL
By an overwhelming margin, Division I coaches adopted a proposal Saturday, in the final business session of the annual convention of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, which will significantly impact college ball – if the NCAA concurs.
The recommendation to NCAA is that NCAA eliminate the NCAA bylaw that exempts tournaments from counting as one tournament date equaling one contest in the traditional season. In addition, the NFCA recommends that NCAA allow four dates for competition in the non-traditional (fall) season. The effect would be to equalize the number of contests played by D-1 colleges nationwide at 56. Currently, colleges may play several games in tournaments but each day only counts as one game; thus, some colleges, especially in the warmer climes, may play 60-70 games while other schools play 40-50.
Reversing the sentiment in a straw vote taken on Thursday,
Division 1 coaches rejected by a 47-21 margin a proposal that NCAA create
sanctioned exposure tournaments, to be held between September 1 and
Thanksgiving. The proposal would
have required such tournaments be held on a Saturday, and that individual
players be taken from regular team rosters and assigned to tournament teams in
three groups: signed or committed players; unsigned and/or uncommitted seniors;
juniors or younger players. The
concept was vigorously opposed by SPY from the floor, on grounds that the
proposal should have been discussed with travel ball coaches, that voting should
not be limited to D-1 coaches, and that NFCA should consult with travel ball
coaches who are quite aware of the several criticisms college coaches have of
current tournament formats and are discussing several proposals for improving
exposure tournaments. (More on this on Monday). SPY particularly objected to the provision
which would have prohibited college coaches from attending any tournaments other
than the proposed NCAA-sanctioned tournaments.
Coach Linda Wells,
Division I coaches also approved 64-8 a recommendation to NCAA’s Division I committee that it explore the possibility of moving the Women’s College World Series to a later calendar date. The final version replaced earlier drafts which would have pegged the WCWS to the weekend preceding the Men’s College World Series. In effect, NFCA is asking NCAA to consider extending the season even beyond the new timeline which the NCAA is expected to approve in February, which would schedule the WCWS the week after Memorial Day.
Division I coaches adopted a recommendation that NCAA establish a starting date for softball, which would be the Thursday 14 weeks before the first round of regionals.
All of the delegates from every group agreed on a
recommendation to the NFCA Camps and Clinics Committee that the assistant
coaches develop a standardized recruiting roster form for travel ball coaches.
The form will become available on the NFCA website and tournament
directors will be asked to distribute the form to travel ball coaches.
A major criticism of several
exposure tournaments, and ASA national championship tournaments, is that the
sponsors fail to provide a college coaches guide with adequate information on
teams and players to guide recruitment decisions.
(This is a proposal which SPY
heartily endorses; some tournaments like Rising Stars, Boulder, Pennsbury and
the 2002 and 2003 Gold tournaments provided exceptionally comprehensive
materials; many other tournaments
provided inadequate information or none at all.)
The delegates agreed on a measure that requires a member must be in attendance at the NFCA convention to be elected to a committee.
It must be noted that NFCA is not a rule-making body, and, except for internal NFCA matters, its recommendations must be approved by NCAA, or ASA or other body.
A number of proposals can only be voted upon by NFCA classification. Eg, the proposal on sanctioned tournaments was considered only by D-1 coaches, and not presented to the Travel Ball group (which had only nine or so coaches present), and was voted upon only by D-1 coaches – after SPY’s intervention was permitted on a point of order.
The High School coaches passed, by a 9-4 margin, a recommendation to the NFHS softball rules committee that it allow the option of wearing metal cleats. These HS coaches also agreed on a motion to recommend to NFHS that pitchers must have both feet on the rubber before starting the pitching motion. However, a proposal that the pitching distance for HS be extended to 43 feet failed for lack of a motion and second.
The NJCAA coaches rejected a recommendation to the NJCAA softball committee that the softball and volleyball seasons be reversed.
A number of other recommendations which were approved by straw votes in the group caucuses earlier in the week failed to be considered for lack of a motion.
These included:
n a recommendation to all rules making bodies that the double first base be mandatory at all levels of play (ASA has already decreed the double base for all levels)
n a recommendation to all rules making bodies that they should collaborate on a common understanding and interpretation of “interference and obstruction.”
n a recommendation that NCAA establish its own bat testing program
n a recommendation that NCAA umpires should enforce all the rules (the rationale is that many rules on the books never enforced, eg, intentional obliteration of the front line of the batter’s box)
n a parallel recommendation that NCAA eliminate rules which umpires do not call.
Other Business
The NFCA Hall of Fame Committee announced that, in 2004,
NFCA would honor Elaine Sortino of