cheerleading, chanting, being obnoxious...

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Concerning gamefaces/facemasks:

I'm not gonna get into the creepy thing or someone's knowlege or lack of knowlege concerning the game......but here's my take on the Gameface.

Do Gamefaces impair a players vision? You bet they do. Do I blame a player for wearing one? Not at all. Why? Bat technology. The bats are way too hot. Sure, the softballs have been dumbed down a bit but not enough to compensate for the advancement of bat technology. These new bats can literally turn an anemic hitter with poor mechanics into a hitter that on occasion absolutely crushes the ball. When you put one in the hands of a strong hitter with very good mechanics they become an absolute hitting monster capable of causing severe damage to anything that's close to them.

I've been around this game for quite a while. My aunt played softball at a high level on the east coast. Back then the pitching distance was closer, the bases were the same, the ball was hard as a rock, and the bats were wood. Also, the players on average were not near as big nor as strong as they are today. Not once in all the games I watched her play did I ever see a hitter crush the ball like I have seen at your typical 18u travel tournament.

The combination of bigger and stronger athletes coupled with the hot bats of today does equal a concern for safety. That is why it does not bother me if a player wears a Gamface or a Heartguard for that matter. These items would not be around in the game today if it was not for the bats.

Len

 

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Hey Playedout08: Lighten up!

This is me blowing a rasberry at you.

I am wearing a gameface and cheering while I am sticking out my toungue at you.. ;D

 

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Leave it to the girls to cheer or not. it's their game. Personally i don't think it's up to the coaches to make a team cheer or not. thats my own opinion.

 

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Played..... You sure got a good run out of this one and I sure was enjoying it for a LONG time. I just wish your argumets were a little stronger so I could have stayed with ya. I see a good number of girls make errors without those mask even though you wrere SURE the masks caused all the others. I gotta go with Lenski. The bats are so hot. And what the heck if mama wants little girl to wear a mask, she's footin the bill, wear the mask. If you think all the girls wearing mask should be doing something else, it sure would make for short tournaments.

But you did have a good run and thanks for the 5 pages of good reading.

 

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NP. I really don't think the masks are so bad. I saw a pitcher nearly decapitated the other night by a shot from one of those outta-be-outlawed Rockettech bats-- so I can understand why some parents are concerned enough to sacrifice their daughters' appearance for a measure of safety.

 

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On the cheering topic, my dd loves to cheer and chant in the dugout and can still tell you everything that is going on in the game. She says it keeps her pepped and ready for anything. She doesn't chant when on D but she's a pitcher so...
On the gamefase masks, because she's a pitcher I would like for her to wear one but she choses not to. And in the end, she's fast enough, and has good reasons for not wanting to wear one, not just that is "looks ugly", so I let her have her choice.
Young ladies who want to be beautiful all the time have a place to do that, in beauty pagents. This is softball, and the last thing on their mind should be whether they are looking pretty or not. Lets face it, cleets aren't that attractive oh and the way the hair looks after a batting helmet so maybe they shouldn't wear them either. That's just silly! Doesn't make sense to me why you are so preoccupied with the way a young lady "looks" on the field. My dd is a beautiful young lady (sure I'm biased) but given two pictures, one sliding into home covered in mud and all sweaty and dirty, and the other with her hair and makeup done in a pose, she's still going to chose the softball picture every time... I don't really think every girl out there is that concerned about how she looks on the field. Sorry. The choice is between the parent and the child, not some stranger telling a young lady that she looks ugly in it to guilt her into not wearing it.

 

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I can't believe i'm saying it, but playedout has a point...now he does sometimes take it to the 8th degree, but it is a valid point

on gamefaces--we had a second/thirdbasegirl who wore one off and on this year, and slow grounders really gave her a hard time...without the mask, she's much better....my own DD had me purchase one, but she has since decided not to wear one...the fact that both of them look like mini-models has nothing to do with it...haha, playedout on that one

second, i somewhat disagree with the "get better reflexes" bit....there are girls on top tier teams that wear them, so they had to have made the teams so i'm sure their reflexes are good

but gamefaces ARE ugly, and many girls, not all of them, worry about their looks...if other girls on the team don't wear them, they are probably less likely...and girls who gripe with their mom/dad about equipment will not use it....i still my own DD about mouthguards, sunglasses (although she does wear her heartguard all the time), sliding pads and keeping her stuff organized....if a girl is persuaded by another girl, or if that coach says "without that gameface, Shirley would not have made that play." but the girls hear the others complain about them, and hear their coach say "that gameface is hurting us".....so they want to please coach so they arent going to turn around and put on one and make the same mistake

he does have a point about jennie finch....pretty people get more attention....just look at tennis! danika patrick! it is very sexist but sadly true....look at ESPN's women analyst! guys can have lazy eyes and pot bellies, women have to always look good

and i seriously doubt played it lurking in the dugouts scoping out little DD's, he may be obnoxious but hardly predatory....

geez, played, you know how to keep the fires burning! good luck with all that...I've been there, done that

 

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This is goofy. ?I don't even consider them girls while the're on the field. ?

LOOKS???

My dd isn't up for any endorsements and I like her to look less attractive. ?I'm trying to keep the boys away (and played). ?Heck, ?I'm trying to get dd to wear it to school. ?Let her worry about looking good when she gets older on her own time.

Bottom line if it hampers your vision, take it off. ?If it helps you field better, wear it.

By the way. I would look MUCH better if I wore it all the time.

 

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Playedout...Don't know where the 80's parent comment came from, but not me...thanks for the compliment though! As for your knowledge of the game...hope it is as vast as you say and if that is the case, with all that knowledge, would love for my dd to play for you...lol

 

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She'd learn a lot, Chill. She'd hustle all the time. She'd play to win. By the end of the first season, she'd make all the right moves instinctively. Her coach wouldn't have to tell her anything except "nice job."

 

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When it comes to cheering, I am not a big fan. However, if teams do it the only way it should be done is simple cheers. Cheers that keep the girls focused on the game. You don't want cheers that involve dancing around the dugout, (which I have seen and hate). In college the cheers are done in order to keep everyone involved and positive during the game. They are simple and to the point.

 

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i like my team to be cheering to try and stay emotionally attached to the game. when a team has you down, alot of times a team will just quietly sit and become spectaters of the game rather than players. its at that point that the other team has you right where they want you. i like my teams to be emotionally attached to every pitch of the game, and pull for their teamates. that doesnt mean that i like it when another team times their cheers and chants to try and screw with the opposing pitcher's delivery of the ball. i feel as if that very unsportsmanlike, and thats when the ump needs to step in and keep things under control.

 

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My dd was pitching a scrimmage game against our other team. The coach went to the other dugout and had the girls screaming cheers, some very obnoxious while my dd was on the rubber. Boy did they get in her head! ;D After the game the coach pulled her aside and told her that if she wanted to pitch she could show no emotion on the rubber. NONE!! What a hard lesson for her to learn. My dd's attitude has made a 180!! She very rarely shows emotion and has learned to totally ignore what is said in the other dugout.

Playtuff.., you are right that is very unsportsmanlike, however, as a pitcher you need to learn to ignore it because ultimately it will happen.

 

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Ok What about a baserunner cheering? Saw an umpire stop a girl from doing it last weekend. Can't find it in the rules though that they can't , am I overlooking it?

 

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How about the entire infield smacking their gloves loudly chanting batter, batter, batter as the pitcher starts her motion and delivers the pitch. Umpire saw nothing wrong with this.

 

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Shockwave - what age group?

 

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14u. Never seen anything like it.

 

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Bottom line is that no matter how unsportmanlike that behavior is there is not rule against it. So it's better to teach your girls to ignore what they can.

 

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Actually sad627-there are rules against it. Anything considered unsportsmanlike is a no-no. I agree with you though that you can't let it bother you, you never know what some umpires will allow. I think it bothered the parents more than the players. When I asked the ump an inning or 2 later if it was okay for our players during their at bat to clap their hands and chant pitcher, pitcher, pitcher...I didn't get to finish when I got my warning for splitting hairs, lol. He then warned them to stop, but didn't enforce it. He did yell at spectators on both sides though, for what I do not know. He was grumpy, told the girls to run up for their at bats, no warm-ups and etc. You could tell he'd rather be a the local watering hole.

 

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there comes a point when you draw the line but what we have to remember is its 'the girls games' not ours! yes their is a point where it can be just straight obnoxious but I think it takes the maturity of a player to say ok thats enough, lets do the rest with our gloves and bats!