Fall Softball - How is it done?

[CoachJD]

I’m curious how you do it too.

Our softball season in Illinois is approximately 14 weeks. If you start it at the same time volleyball starts here, (August 8th in 2018), half of our state finals would be the first week of November and the bigger schools would have state finals the second week of November. (Which is also the peak of the whitetail deer rut in Illinois btw, lol).

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.

By doing spring softball, you start in “bad” weather in theory and move toward good weather. Again in theory. So... what happens is non-conference games are scheduled up front and if they get cancelled, no big deal. In fall, you would have to play some of the most important conference games right out of the gate. And remember, most years are not like this one. We usually have better weather by now.

By doing fall softball you also miss a prime D1 recruiting period. In Illinois, we can’t have contact with travel teams during hs season and I don’t see that changing.

Here is the D1 recruiting calendar: https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2017-18DIREC_SoftballRecruitingCalendar_20170912.pdf

I think there are real recruiting advantages for student athletes in states whose high school sports seasons coincide with the respective college sports seasons. I say play high school softball while the college coaches are busy playing their season.

I played in a co-ed slow-pitch league last year that had its championship game the week after Thanksgiving and the weather was nicer for that [night game than any day we've had a game scheduled this year (We've played 8, canceled 10 so far; that doesn't count JV games).

The solution is simple: Make the season shorter. There's no reason the season needs to be 14 weeks long if you start in early August, since the weather will be nicer and there won't be much need for makeup games. Let's take this year: Start on August 6th. First games on August 20th. Have a 6-week regular season (no spring break to worry about and a lot nicer weather), then start the State Series the first week of October. Yes, the end of the playoffs will be colder. But teams will actually get to play more than a dozen regular season games. And, quite frankly, I'm more concerned about the hundreds of teams that get screwed out of games than the handful of teams that will have to play when it's 50 out.

Average temps (Chicago): March 45, April 56, May 66/August 81, September 74, October 62. If our primary concern is weather and actually getting as many games in as possible, and I'm not suggesting it is or should be, it's a no-brainer.

I won't speak to how it affects recruiting, but the weather argument isn't a great one.

 

[FP26]

For DD's school, the biggest problem with a move to the fall would be losing players to other sports. The varsity program has a total of 17 players. If you removed the field hockey, soccer, and cheerleaders, it would only have 5 left. A move to the fall would effectively eliminate the softball program at DD's school.

 

[FP26]

PIAA needs to compress the playoff schedule. A few years ago we qualified for the state tournament. We played our first district playoff game on a Tues. The next game (quarterfinal) was on a week later the following Tuesday. Then the semi-final was the next day on a Wed. Then we waited an entire week for the championship the following Wed. 4 games in 16 days, it made no sense. Then our first state playoff game was 5 days after that.

Districts in our area is a two week period. And how that works out depends on what classification you play. Our area mostly consists of AA and AAA teams. Based on the number of teams that make it to districts, these playoffs will typically consist of 4 rounds. So the teams making the Championship game would play two games each week. In A and AAAA there are far fewer teams. In some cases the first week of districts is skipped completely (all teams in those classifications have off) and all games occur during week 2. States is a different animal. There are 6 classifications (A through AAAAAA) and each invites 16 teams, so there are a total of 96 teams that go to state playoffs. These games are also played over a two week period. The typical schedule is Monday, Thursday, Monday, Friday, but that could vary based on a number of factors.

Again, weather does play a factor throughout the playoffs as well. Last year the first round of districts was set for Tuesday and Thursday. But some of the Tuesday games were postponed until Wednesday creating a back to back situation for some teams.

 

[reagansdaddy]

Again, your perspective is biased towards your thoughts about the importance of HS softball. If your player is a top level travel player who wishes to play at some level in college then the bias is most likely shifted away from the importance of HS ball and towards recruiting in the larger picture. Her future softball plans beyond HS are important to her. If the player has no aspirations of playing college ball then HS ball can be very important to them with the heightened community atmosphere. There is no one size fits all solution.

Sparky - with all due respect, you don't know me or my daughter or what travel level she plays at or what school she has or hasn't committed to play for as a freshman in HS. Your ignorance makes you sound ridiculous when you make statements like this.

 

[Sandrahd]

Also in GA where we play softball in the fall. My DD goes to a private school, and softball practice can start as early as the third week in July. There is sometimes a game scheduled the week before school starts—the past 2 years, there was a game the day of open house. School usually starts in early August. (It’s really unbearably hot in July and August, and we hear of schools in other states canceling games and even recess due to the same heat indexes our girls are playing in. It’s all about what you are acclimated to.)

FWIW, her school doesn’t have volleyball, but it is a fall sport. Soccer is a spring sport here. Softball players can’t cheer or participate in dance line.


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[quincy]

No cheering or dance line? There are way to many rules.

Rent them footlouse.

 

[deboy922]

Been doing softball/baseball for 20+ years in north-central Indiana. Nothing better than September softball/baseball in a fall league or travel. Daughter played high school volleyball and softball. IMHO, volleyball in the spring and softball in the fall is a no-brainer for Indiana.

 

[Westwind]

Average temps (Chicago): March 45, April 56, May 66/August 81, September 74, October 62. If our primary concern is weather and actually getting as many games in as possible, and I'm not suggesting it is or should be, it's a no-brainer.

I won't speak to how it affects recruiting, but the weather argument isn't a great one.

It may be a no-brainer if you live in Chicago next to Lake Michigan. I don’t. Illinois is a pretty big state. My climate is different than yours and both of ours is different than central Illinois which is different from southern Illinois.

I’m still going to pass on fall softball. I still prefer to be in sync with what most of the country is doing and with the college softball world. Think I would rather roll into fall exposures and camps after playing good competition in tb all summer and early fall instead of the spotty play and pitching that is most of hs softball. We all have preferences, that is mine.

High school softball is a nice little spring pastime to be enjoyed for different reasons than tb is enjoyed but honestly I could care less if half the season is cancelled. If hs games are cancelled, what really is lost? Just because it works better for other, (warmer), states does not mean it will work better for us.

All this arguing is pointless. Next year the weather will be different. IHSA wouldn’t consider this any more than they would consider moving football to the spring. IHSA would never consider allowing hs players to have contact with tb teams during the season like other states will. It’s moot, man.

 

[CMMom1740]

Also here in GA, cross country competes with softball. So, softball, volleyball, and cross country are all fall sports and it seems like the girls in DD's grade are split three ways. We are in a AAAA private school (roughly 1000 students, grades 7-12). Lots of girls run XC and that takes away some potential players. Of course, spring here is soccer and lacrosse.

 

[Sparky Guy]

Sparky - with all due respect, you don't know me or my daughter or what travel level she plays at or what school she has or hasn't committed to play for as a freshman in HS. Your ignorance makes you sound ridiculous when you make statements like this.

Never said it was only about your DD in particular. More of a general statement. I know players who've played in the WCWS, one was an MVP, in the NPF and players who've decided not to play in college. To each one their HS experience was what they made of it. Your DD and your family will look at HS ball through your eyes with regards to relevance. Whatever choices your DD makes will be based on that perspective. Nothing more, nothing less. Nothing wrong with what she chooses.

I've Been involved with high level travel for the last 15 years without a DD on the team. Two of the organizations had players on past Olympic teams. Another will have a player on the next Olympic team. Spent another 8 years prior to that when the DD was playing watching and learning. Can't say I've seen it all, but I've sure seen a lot.

During the early years I wondered why HS ball was not played in the fall. After traversing travel, HS and college ball and beyond I can see why it is not in the majority of the states. My views reflect those experiences.