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Bat Information (updated May 9, 2008) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2009 Softball Canada Rule Changes (English) (Posted March 17, 2009) 2009 Softball Canada Rule Changes (French) (Poated March 17, 2009) Bat Information (Posted May 9, 2008)
The following is an update on the ASA bat rule that we adopted in 2007. All bats with an ASA 2000 and 2004 label are legal unless the bat appears on the non-approved bat list. Rule 3-1a stipulates we are using the ASA bat standard. Rule 3-1 lists many of the criteria for a legal bat but it is important your teams and umpires are aware that some bats with the 2000 label are not legal. The Designated Player (D.P.) Rule Made Easy (Posted October 16, 2007) "Grandfathered" Bats no longer authorized in ASA beginning in 2008 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, November, 6 2006 — The Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA), the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, today announced that under a resolution adopted by the ASA Board of Directors, bats submitted by manufacturers that were previously allowed a 2 mph variance in the ASA’s test standards are no longer authorized for use in ASA Championship Play effective January 1, 2008. Commonly referred to by players and coaches as “grandfathered” bats, these bats were allowed a 2 mph testing variance under the terms of an agreement the bat manufacturers and ASA negotiated in the fall of 2003. These terms will no longer be in effect on January 1, 2008 thus making these bats illegal for use in ASA Championship Play. According to the list provided to ASA under the terms of the agreement with each manufacturer, the following bats will be placed on the non approved list on January 1, 2008.
Easton
Miken
Louisville Slugger
Worth
About the ASA At the 2005 Softball Canada Congress in November, the membership approved a rule change for Fast Pitch that requires that all bats comply with the current ASA bat standard. Previously, Softball Canada had adopted the 1.20 Bat Performance Factor (BPF) and the ISF standard for Fast Pitch. However, with increasing safety concerns, the membership wanted to follow the ASA bat standard as they are currently the only organization that conducts testing to ensure that the standards are being met by the bat manufacturers. This rule change for Fast Pitch to the ASA bat standard will take effect in the 2006 season. This rule was already in effect for Slo-Pitch as of 2005.
A concern was raised on when a dented bat becomes illegal for play. Although a bat may have a dent, this does not necessarily mean that it is illegal. A legal bat is not to exceed 2 1/4 inches in diameter at the largest part of the bat. The standard test for this is whether or not the bat will pass through a bat ring. The bat ring allows a tolerance of 1/32 inch for expansion of a round bat. The intent of the rule is not to allow a larger hitting surface. If the bat will not pass through the bat ring, the surface is larger than the allowable 2 1/4 inches plus the 1/32 allowable tolerance, and the bat shall be deemed illegal. Umpires are instructed to check bats before each game. If a bat is questionable, the umpire should check the bat with a bat ring. Softball Canada's philosophy on bats is to do everything possible to keep a legal bat in the game. All bats must conform to Rule 3, Section 1 of Softball Canada's Rule Book. Help Appeal Canada Games Decision In our appeal to reverse the Canada Games Council decision to eliminate men's softball from the 2009 Canada Summer Games an online petition has been created. Please help us by filling in this petition and getting all your softball friends to join you. It will only take a second to do and it is for a great cause. http://www.petitiononline.com/drm6948/petition.html Softball Ontario thanks you for your support.
Wendy Cathcart 2009 Canada Summer Games Selection First the good news - Women's Softball is in the 2009 Canada Summer Games. Now the bad news - Men's softball is in grave danger of not being in the 2009 Games. The list of selected sports originally published did not include men's softball. Softball Canada noted what we felt was an error in the selection process and appealed. The error had to do with how the federal government scoring was administered. We felt that, as per the selection criteria, men's and women's softball should have received equal scores. The Canada Games Council's position was that scoring was to be separated by gender. This was a critical difference because Sport Canada policy does not recognize men's softball, as it is a non-Olympic version of a sport that has an Olympic designation. That resulted in a score of "0" for men's softball from Sport Canada. Treating the genders equally as per the accepted criteria would have, in our opinion, put men's softball in the Games. The appeal went to an independent review officer who ultimately ruled that Softball Canada's interpretation was correct. He struck down the decision to exclude men's softball and offered the Canada Games Council 3 options: 1) To correct the errors in the current selection process - we believe this would have put men's softball in the 2009 Games. 2) To put all sports in the 2005 Games on the 2009 program - this would have put men's softball in the 2009 Games. 3) To throw out the whole process and start again. This would allow the Canada Games Council to potentially separate the men's and women's scoring - likely resulting in men's softball exclusion. Unfortunately the Canada Games Council has chosen option #3. We had presented the case that option #3 was like throwing out the results of a game, after it was played by the accepted rules. Further, that re-doing the process, would likely lead to a pre-determined outcome, as the essential scoring results are basically already known. Softball Canada will be closely monitoring the new selection process. It will likely, however, be a significant challenge to have men's softball selected under the anticipated revised rules.
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