Stealing Restrictions on minors (10U) level!!??

[tomzpc]

Stealing Restrictions on minors (10U) level..yay or nay?

Our town has a local rule for 10U LL softball that limits the number of advances on steals, passed balls or wild pitches to three max per inning. I dislike the rule as do almost all of the other managers and coaches that I've coached with or against for the past couple of years. I understand that the board's reasoning for the rule is to eliminate the "track meet" games and allow for opportunities for girls to make defensive plays against runners on base for balls put into play. I understand and sympathize with the reasoning but still disagree with the rule. Below is an email that I sent off to one of our board members last night. If you agree with me and have any other good reasons to share I'd love to hear them. If you agree with the rule as it is then by all means tell me that too. Thanks!

I am writing to say that I am very disappointed in the board's decision to leave the 3-steal limit rule in place for minors softball and since I had all of these thoughts in my head I wanted to get them down right away.

Below are the reasons why I think that the rule should be changed along with a suggestion at the end based on how we've played in district wide non-tournament games for the past two years. I hope that you and the rest of the board will take this all under consideration.

1) Little League International, which obviously spends hours every year updating their rules has no such restriction, so why should we?

2) Catchers need to be able to throw the ball if they are ever to be able to learn. The three steal limit invariably results in those steals being saved for runners on third base so that they can score on passed balls, therefore the catchers never get an opportunity to attempt to throw out runners trying to steal.

3) The girls want to run and they should be allowed to. It is also a way for them to learn how to slide effectively in game situations. The kids become discouraged when I tell them that they can't run after reaching base, so essentially we are taking some of the fun out of the game for them.

4) Not having the rule in majors yet having it in minors makes "zero sense", as the change in majors made a year ago by LLI allowing baserunners to go on release, unlike in minors when the ball must reach the batter, actually makes stealing in the majors easier than it is in the minors. If the catchers aren't given a chance to "catch up" to the base stealers in minors, how will they ever stand a chance when they reach majors where runners have an automatic head start.

5) Fastpitch softball is not baseball. It is obviously a similar game but aggressive baserunning is a much bigger part of he fastpitch softball game than it is in baseball, from the lowest levels to the highest levels, nationwide. This rule effectively neuters a large and important aspect of the game of fastpitch softball. Just because the rule is in effect in baseball doesn't mean that the same rule applies to fastpitch softball. In this case it shouldn't.

6) I've been coaching minors softball for two years now and I've heard from just about every head coach and assistant coach that they dislike the rule, for reasons stated herein. On several occasions I've had different coaches tell me how they "hate that rule". Hate is a strong word but I have to agree. I hate the rule too.

7) Last season on two different occasions I had highly experienced umpires who were calling our games tell me outright that it was a horrible rule. They both said that stealing is a major part of the game of fastpitch softball (see #5) and that we are taking away from the girls' enjoyment of the game (see #3). Their words...."the girls want to run and we need to let them".

Now, I understand that we want girls to be given the opportunity to make plays in the field. How do we stop the track meet type game? We allow the catchers to throw. The more that they throw the less the girls run on them. I've seen it in action now for two years in fallball. We have some girls who can throw out a runner, but if never given the opportunity to work on that part of their game then how will they ever become successful at it?

Here is my suggestion. I've been one of the coaches for the 10U fallball team for each of the past two seasons. In all of the games that we played against other towns the only limit in place was to disallow base stealing when a team had a lead of 7 runs or more. I feel very strongly that this rule would be much better for our LL softball program and it makes more sense since this is the rule that neigboring towns are using for 10u play.

Thanks for reading. I hope that you can share this email with the rest of the board for discussion and consideration.

 

[quincy]

In our 10U minor league the runner is not allowed to steal home.

If your league allows stealing of home that is the 1st stealing rule I would change, no stealing of home.

The runner stealing 2nd is almost a guarantee. If all the stars align the runner has a small chance of being thrown out at 2nd.

Stealing 3rd is a little more interesting. A good group of defensive players can shut down the steal to 3rd, the Team should be rewarded for their hard work.

With the above experience I do not like the unlimited stealing of 2nd, 3rd base is fair game.

A compromise of purity of the game and the stealing your way around the bases might be that a Team can only steal 2nd base 1 time an inning. IDK

I do not like the 3 steals a game rule that your League implemented. Like you mentioned it prohibits the development of both the runners and defense.

 

[KevinC]

Here is how our league does it (modified ASA rules):

10U:

• No walks, coach comes in to pitch after girl throws 4 balls.
• You can take a lead on pitcher release
• You can not steal 2B or Home. You can steal 3B.
• If there is an overthrow at 3B on a steal you can not proceed home.
• 5 run limit until the last inning which has 8 run limit.

I think this is just right for rec league 10U. The girls still get a chance to steal and the catchers have a decent chance to make a play at 3B. In general the games don't get too out of hand.

12U: Standard ASA rules except,

• You can only steal one base per pitch, even if a play is made and there is an overthrow - this encourages the catchers to try to make the play.
• 5 run limit for the first 4 innings, 8 run limit after that.

I prefer an inning run limit to an inning stolen bases limit as a way to keep things from getting too out of hand.

 

[CoachAl]

I think the no stealing of home at 10u is a good idea for the most part. This is actually the first I have heard about a league implementing a steal limit. Some rec leagues play modified rules as KevinC describes above. Our local rec league did this last year for the 9u's. At the comp level (10u) I think runners should be allowed to attempt steals, with the exception of home. This is the only way catcher's (and the rest of the defense for that matter) will ever develop that game instinct that enables them to react quickly to stealing baserunners...that cannot be coached. It has to be experienced. Sure, the throw to 2nd (most of the time) will not succeed, but a seasoned 2nd year 10u team can start to make this happen! Some of these girls will really surprise you with what they can learn to do with a little practice and determination!

 

[starsnuffer]

A lot of 10u rec divisions have the rule to where the steal cannot be initiated until the pitch crosses the plane of home plate, rather then on release. This gives the defense a bit more of a chance, but it has the downside of effecting the girls timing off the pitch for when they move up to 12u.

Everything is a compromise, gotta pick your poison. Unlimited unhindered stealing makes the game a farce, though, at the rec ball level. The girls are supposed to be learning how to play softball, not learning how to take advantage of kids that don't know how to play the game yet with things they'd never get away with as they get older.

-W

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

tomzpc - I totally agree with your analysis to the board. By 10U, not allowing the players to steal any base including home at any time does a disservice to girls fastpitch. Teach the players the proper way to play the game. If the catchers can't catch and throw out runners, than teach them the proper way to do it! This is another example of dumbing down the game and lowering the expectations for girls that never happens with the boys at the same age. It is also a contributing factor in why some regions of the country continue to foster the best players in the nation because they get the girls to start playing the game early by the very rules that they will be playing for the rest of their softball careers. Challenge these girls to play the game at a high level and you will be pleasantly surprised at what they can actually accomplish.

 

[tomzpc]

For what it's worth, we do have a 5 run rule per inning in effect as well as the steals limit.

Great comments folks....keep em comin!

 

[tomzpc]

A lot of 10u rec divisions have the rule to where the steal cannot be initiated until the pitch crosses the plane of home plate, rather then on release. This gives the defense a bit more of a chance, but it has the downside of effecting the girls timing off the pitch for when they move up to 12u.

This is a LL rule. At release for 12U (this was just changed last year) and when crosses the plate for 10U.

 

[wild man]

Tomzpc, I have been involved in LL for quite a while now and I agree with you, I do not feel that minors 10 year olds is about winning and losing so much as it is about learning how to play the game properly. If they learn how to play young they can really get competitive when they move up. But if they dont learn alot of the basics they will be way behind when they are older.
Base running is a Huge part of the game, I spend entire practices on base running on offence and entire practices on stopping runners when we are on defence. The coaches who support no stealing rules dont want to work on it or dont know how.

At what point do we want them to learn all aspects of the game? We have no restrictions except for a 6 run limit per inning. But remember if they go to the All star tournament it is straight up Softball, So they gotta learn before they get there.

 

[CPSBDad]

10U Steal 2B/3B but not home. One steal per bad pitch/passed ball. Five runs per inning. No walk--coach pitch after four balls--no stealing while coach pitches. No limit per game.

12U--any thing goes, but 5 run rull still in effect. Limits on pitcher and catcher's innings played. Things get different around post season tournament.