OK, OK, I'm sold!!! Now the Question: GameFace or Rip-It??

[SamG]

You're going to love this story...

Local sporting goods went out of business at the end of December, so we got a game face for $25 (DD said she wants to try wearing one). I have her take it to her pitching lesson yesterday to start getting used to the feel (and when it's on, she has a hard time talking )

We get the gym, put our stuff down and I go to the locker room. I come back and her mask is off. I ask why and she said Megan (assistant college coach... giving a hitting lesson in same gym) made fun of her. Pitching coach & college head coach start making fun of Megan. Megan sticks to her guns and say if DD hits her spots while pitching, she won't need to worry about a mask.

It was all in fun, but DD never did put the mask back on.

 

[stephanie]

true story...
last night, my third baseman (who has been less than thrilled about me making her wear a mask, and who hasn't gotten one yet) was at practice and I went to hit her a real hard grounder. I flubbed the hit, and lined one right at her. hard. She barely got out of the way, even though she caught it in her glove. It was one of those "surprise! look what's in my glove!!" catches. Instantly, she had tears in her eyes, and she says "Oh my God...that could've really hurt me!" Once I made sure she was ok, I asked her if she was ready for that mask yet...she just looked at me and nodded yes. It was an accidental lesson, but it worked none-the-less....

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Last season, I was having a pitching lesson with a 9 YO. She wears a black D mask. I wear a gameface. Her LL coach walks up and says "What is this a Starwars convention?"

I didn't take it as a compliment. (Plus, this coach couldn't catch a cold.)

 

[amanda_cake]

As a much younger girl when these things came out, I remember saying something to another teammate about how our pitcher looked like an "alien" back then. Mind you, I was about 11. She said, "Don't say anything to her, she hates it and her dad makes her wear it. She's already cried over it!" I never said anything to her about it and certainly wouldn't not, but back then they were new and weird. Now, we make all girls that step on our pitching mound for rec ball wear them.

 

[SoCalASABlue]

I don't care how much I liked the pitching coach. If DD wanted to wear a mask and her pitching coach ridiculed her for it, we'd find a new pitching coach. That type of ridicule of a student by a teacher should not be tolerated in any venue IMHO.

 

[stephanie]

I don't care how much I liked the pitching coach. If DD wanted to wear a mask and her pitching coach ridiculed her for it, we'd find a new pitching coach. That type of ridicule of a student by a teacher should not be tolerated in any venue IMHO.

Ditto what he said!

 

[jinjet95]

I remember thinking how strange players looked in them the first time I saw them a couple of years ago, but now they're very commonplace in our area and age group(14U). By the time the 10U and 12U players get to college, I'll bet we start seeing them in college games too.

 

[SamG]

I don't care how much I liked the pitching coach. If DD wanted to wear a mask and her pitching coach ridiculed her for it, we'd find a new pitching coach. That type of ridicule of a student by a teacher should not be tolerated in any venue IMHO.

Her pitching coach didn't ridicule her. There were three "coaches" in the gym... DD's pitching coach (former NCAA team coach, now "consultant" for local college team), college team head coach, and college team assistant coach. It was the assistant coach who said something. And I don't know what she said since I wasn't in the room at the time (and my DD can take things a little "personal" if you know what I mean).

 

[SoCalASABlue]

OK - I stand corrected - that particular assistant coach would not get a dime from me for a hitting lesson. Is that better?

Amazing how something like this in the workplace can lead to various serious repercussions, including termination...yet when it happens under the guise of coaching sports, it was probably the drama queen student that misheard - it couldn't be the big stud adult who's just an rear at that particular moment (although I doubt comments like that are rare and seldom uttered from those particular individuals).

The difference between those of us who have no problem with pitching masks, and those who think masks are a crutch and a sign of cowardice, is that we don't mind that those players don't wear masks.

 

[a softball life for me]

DD is a pitcher. Last year at 11 she was pitching against a 2nd year 12U team. Ump was squeezing the plate, the backstop hung over the infield making it impossible to pop up to the infield and our ace pitcher was suddenly nursing a sore arm. DD was having a tough game. This huge girl shot the ball back at her face so fast, it scared everyone there. By the grace of God, DD caught it. She now wears the Rip-It in all games. She doesn't love it but she has experienced first-hand the reason why.

We live in the northeast and 2 weeks ago we were playing a tournament in a dome. DD's team is now the 2nd year 12U team. We were playing a 1st year 12U team. DD is now the 5'7" huge girl who shot the ball back at the 11 year old pitcher. Lucky for her, she also was able to catch it. The girl was already wearing a mask.

People can make fun all they want. I don't want a surgeon rearranging my DD's face when I could have prevented it. Yes, both girls in my scenarios caught the ball. Both times it scared everyone who witnessed it. And both girls pitched the ball somewhere they didn't mean to pitch it. It's gonna happen sometimes.