Coach letting dd practice without gear. Irresponsible?

[8utbmom]

Yes, she only had her mask on which is all we own. She said he forgot the other gear. And his version of the story was that he was pitching balls to the batter and it was actually a foul ball that went backwards and hit her in the chest.

 

[andyh64000]

Yes, she only had her mask on which is all we own. She said he forgot the other gear. And his version of the story was that he was pitching balls to the batter and it was actually a foul ball that went backwards and hit her in the chest.

If he was pitching to her with a batter then I absolutely agree with you that he was irresponsible.

 

[SoftSocDad]

In 8u, the governing bodies around here require only the mask for warmups, so you'll often see a catcher being warmed up by a coach, parent, or another player and the catcher will be wearing only a batting helmet. While a big guy can definitely throw harder than a smaller coach in many cases, coach pitch is soft toss. The odds of someone being in danger let alone getting hurt when warming up in soft toss are miniscule.

That said, his version of the story actually makes it MUCH WORSE. Only an idiot would pitch to a batter with an unprotected catcher backing her. Is this your daughter's first year of softball? Even though she just started catching, she's got to know that you aren't allowed near home plate for live pitching without the proper equipment, soft toss or not.

I'm glad this story doesn't have a bad ending.

 

[rowdy]

Two things here. 1. He wasn't pitching like real pitchers pitch. I have watched a lot of coach pitch over the years and it is underhanded maybe 20-25 MPH. 2. She should have had her gear on, at least a chest protector and helmet.

The coach was careless in this case, but not irresponsible. I think if he was throwing to her at normal 8u coach speed the catcher should be able to catch without gear. The shortstop and first basemen don't have gear and the ball is moving just as fast if not faster. If there is a batter involved then it is different.

Just don't make it sound like she was catching a kid throwing 50MPH without gear on because you are blowing what happened out of proportion. If your daughter isn't capable of playing catch then work with her until she is.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

No one should ever get behind the plate, with a batter, without full gear on. That is not even debatable.

Did your season just start? If so, I would see if she can be transferred to a different team. You are probably not going to be one of his favorite people, now, even though this was his fault.

Every team that I have ever been associated with had proper gear for the catcher. This is the league's responsibility. That said, get her her own gear before she goes to another practice.

 

[Lozza]

No one should ever get behind the plate, with a batter, without full gear on. That is not even debatable.

Quoting for truth.

Rowdy there are massive differences between catcher and first and third. Catcher is within swinging distance of the batter. They have a ball coming every pitch. There is a much greater chance of getting hit, hence why we have the rules for the gear.

I'm someone whose against face masks but if a parent told me they wanted their child to wear one that child would be wearing it every training. This guy is lucky the OP isn't litigious. He would lose.

I agree with Amy that you be requesting a transfer. 'I forgot' is inexcusable.

 

[chinamigarden]

Yes, she only had her mask on which is all we own. She said he forgot the other gear. And his version of the story was that he was pitching balls to the batter and it was actually a foul ball that went backwards and hit her in the chest.

This is the most important part of the story. To me this is worse then how it was originally described. No coach should have a player catching live pitching with a batter, with no gear on. That is irresponsible. Foul balls always happen, and to not have the kid in gear is bad.

 

[Lozza]

Is it possible he underhanded the ball to her and she missed it, and it hurt a little? Is it possible it was an accident? A momentary lapse in good judgement?

china from what she's posted, it was just a little hurt (winded) I don't think anyone here is suggesting it was on purpose. He never meant to hurt her.

BetaI took the last part out as china put another post in while I was posting.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Last night at pitching practice, with a new team, I had 3 catchers. One had shin guards and chest protector. I had her use my Gameface. (This was just pitching lessons.) Soon, she determined that my face mask was too big for her and she didn't want to wear it. The coach asked me what to do. I said she can't catch w/o headgear. Your insurance won't cover her. End of story.

A baseball athlete should know not to put a catcher behind a batter, w/o her equipment. She could have even been hit with a bat.

 

[InsidePitch]

We allow kids to warm up with just a catchers helmet on. Most put the full gear on, catching a 45-50mph pitch in the shin just plain hurts.