Fall Softball - How is it done?

[reagansdaddy]

It won't happen. I don't see the NCAA switching their schedules. Fall is a prime recruiting time for college coaches. Given the huge disparity in talent levels, the coaches would not be interested in watching many HS games. They want to see players competing against travel level competition. The warm weather states would not agree to it. They gain nothing from the move. With the current NCAA recruiting calendar they have an advantage over the cold weather states. There is no upside for them.

Volleyball would have to move and I don't see them wanting to do so for similar reasons.

While HS ball can feel important. In the overall recruiting picture it is not. This spring has been very frustrating for HS ball. Even some MLB games have been cancelled due to the cold. The switching topic comes up every time there is a bad spring. Nothing new. Just the date changed.

You would need an overwhelming benefit for everyone and there's none I can fathom.

It already DOES happen in several states. We're not talking about something new here.

So, are you saying that girls in Georgia are at a distinct recruiting disadvantage because they play in the fall? I see a whole lot of Georgia girls on D1 rosters. Also, Georgia is a pretty warm state.

Not sure where you are from, but it would be a overwhelming benefit to everyone who plays school ball to have it in the fall in Ohio.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

By doing fall softball here, you start in good weather and move toward bad weather. Your state finals happen after frost/freezing conditions. You have a chance of having snow in the north.

I know in Indiana they have been extending travel tournaments into November the past few years as the weather has remained warmer late in the fall.

Softball in the Spring for Indiana is beyond dumb. It should be a fall sport.

 

[Axe]

It already DOES happen in several states. We're not talking about something new here.

So, are you saying that girls in Georgia are at a distinct recruiting disadvantage because they play in the fall? I see a whole lot of Georgia girls on D1 rosters. Also, Georgia is a pretty warm state.

Not sure where you are from, but it would be a overwhelming benefit to everyone who plays school ball to have it in the fall in Ohio.

Georgia players roll straight from HS season into showcases starting in Mid-October. They do both but it does make for a long fall.

Note that volleyball is also a fall sport in Georgia so there are no players playing volleyball and softball at their schools which hurts participation in both.

 

[spleen1015]

I know in Indiana they have been extending travel tournaments into November the past few years as the weather has remained warmer late in the fall.

Softball in the Spring for Indiana is beyond dumb. It should be a fall sport.

I live in Indiana and feel the exact opposite. I was at a tournament Evansville in the middle of October and the weather was just as miserable as it is right now. There are tournaments that late in the season because the TDs around here want more money. They'll say its for the girls, but that's crap.

We have 1 bad weather year and we need to move the season to the fall. Ok.

 

[Westwind]

Gammomax says in Georgia they are playing tb in February. Then they play pretty much all year until showcases are over in November.

Yep, exactly the same weather we have here in Illinois!

 

[Westwind]

Swapping seasons just trades one set of problems for a different set of problems.

 

[FP26]

I'm not sure there is ever a good time in PA. The current system has the first day of official practice scheduled to start March 5 with the first official game permitted on March 26. We have played 6 games so far, but should be playing our 11th today. Our AD has aggressively rescheduled our postponements. We have played 3 of those 6 games in temperatures under 40 degrees, but at least we got the games in. Our last game is scheduled for May 16 and I think districts start some time the following week. So the regular season essentially lasts 8 weeks. Playoffs culminate with the state championships on June 14/15 which is after school is officially out of session for the summer.

If we moved this to the fall, it would get VERY interesting. DD's school had its first day this year on August 28. If we followed the same 3 week practice period, that would mean that games would start on September 18. An 8 week season would take games into November with districts and state playoffs carrying past Thanksgiving. The wouldn't work either. As much as I believe March softball is a mistake in PA, I don't see any better options.

The only real option for fall softball is to start practice a few weeks before school starts and then start scheduling games the first week of school. I'm not sure that would be permitted.

Added: Today is April 17. It is currently 38 degrees and snowing... DD is now a senior. Typically the last week of March and the first week of April are always a mess. Postponements and cancellations. This year has been worse than usual.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

We have 1 bad weather year and we need to move the season to the fall. Ok.

Welcome to Indiana. For those of us that have lived in Indiana for awhile Softball and Baseball in the spring has always been a disaster.

The trend in the most recent years is that there are more playable days in the fall than in the spring.

P.S. Any tournament in Evansville is miserable no matter what time of the year.

 

[Comocoach]

Missouri's first day of practice was July 31st. State championship games were on Oct 21st. Big exposure tournaments in KC and Stl during the last few weeks of October with a few smaller tournaments into mid November. Most teams are playing by April with many starting in early March.

Girls who go to USA nationals generally just miss a few games early until they have enough practices. Occasionally, someone gets in trouble for ignoring that rule.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[Axe]

I'm not sure there is ever a good time in PA. The current system has the first day of official practice scheduled to start March 5 with the first official game permitted on March 26. We have played 6 games so far, but should be playing our 11th today. Our AD has aggressively rescheduled our postponements. We have played 3 of those 6 games in temperatures under 40 degrees, but at least we got the games in. Our last game is scheduled for May 16 and I think districts start some time the following week. So the regular season essentially lasts 8 weeks. Playoffs culminate with the state championships on June 14/15 which is after school is officially out of session for the summer.

If we moved this to the fall, it would get VERY interesting. DD's school had its first day this year on August 28. If we followed the same 3 week practice period, that would mean that games would start on September 18. An 8 week season would take games into November with districts and state playoffs carrying past Thanksgiving. The wouldn't work either. As much as I believe March softball is a mistake in PA, I don't see any better options.

The only real option for fall softball is to start practice a few weeks before school starts and then start scheduling games the first week of school. I'm not sure that would be permitted.

Added: Today is April 17. It is currently 38 degrees and snowing... DD is now a senior. Typically the last week of March and the first week of April are always a mess. Postponements and cancellations. This year has been worse than usual.

In GA, all fall sports start before the start of the school year. That's even considering that most schools start by the 2nd week in August at the latest and many start August 1.