Studies of the Benefits of Competitive Sports in Females

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All,

I've been asked to talk to a board in North East Ohio who still promotes slow pitch softball for girls. Consequently, the girls in the area are way behind when they begin playing fastpitch at the middle school and high school level. Therefore, my talk is meant to support the introduction of fastpitch softball to girls at a younger age.

I'm just getting things started and have not yet organized my thoughts and ideas but I know I would like to include some facts and statistics in my talk. If you know any sites or studies that you have seen or read that might be useful I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

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I would start by talking about the benifits and how far women sports has come since the passing of title IX in 1973. I would then roll into the amount of college scholarships and coaching positions offered to women. Next I would talk about the professional softball league that is a possobility for women after college. We discussed this topic in a sociology class I took. Just google the topic in google scolar (its in the seach bar in google)

 

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I agree. Coach pitch softball and slow pitch should be GONE. There are 8U fastpitch tournament teams out there. The problem is lack of QUALITY coaching at that age level.

 

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A slow pitch league is a waste of time. It was created for parents who think that their daughters will get hurt playing fastpitch.

In our community, coach pitch is for girls 7-8 yrs old. Then it's "fast pitch". However, most pitchers at that age level are lobbing the ball over the plate anyhow. ( The players think it's 60 mph! ) But it's the first step towards true fastpitch.

As the players get older, bodies develop and true windmill action comes into play. Both hitters, fielders and pitchers alike hone their skills.

 

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I guess I would not be the right person to ask this because I would disagree with most of the posters here. I do think there is a place for slow pitch softball for younger girls, and boys for that matter. I guess we could debate the right age, but offhand I would say that up through age 8 that most young children would benefit more from playing slow pitch, and also might stay more interested in the game. They can have a chance to learn the basics of the game, how to play defense and run bases, and not standing around a lot waiting for pitchers to get the ball over the plate, and/or striking out everyone. My daughter actually played slow pitch until the age of 12, which was admittedly too long, but I feel she did catch up by the time she went to high school and is now playing pretty successfully in college (DIII). And then there are many girls who enjoy playing slow pitch, and who will never want to play in high school or college, let alone think about ever playing professionally.

 

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I guess I would not be the right person to ask this because I would disagree with most of the posters here. I do think there is a place for slow pitch softball for younger girls, and boys for that matter. I guess we could debate the right age, but offhand I would say that up through age 8 that most young children would benefit more from playing slow pitch, and also might stay more interested in the game. They can have a chance to learn the basics of the game, how to play defense and run bases, and not standing around a lot waiting for pitchers to get the ball over the plate, and/or striking out everyone. My daughter actually played slow pitch until the age of 12, which was admittedly too long, but I feel she did catch up by the time she went to high school and is now playing pretty successfully in college (DIII). And then there are many girls who enjoy playing slow pitch, and who will never want to play in high school or college, let alone think about ever playing professionally.

Coachjwb - for all the reasons you stated our 8u developmental league is machine pitch. 35 mph at 35 ft. It is amazing to see these 7-8 year olds hitting balls into the grass, getting lead runners, catching fly balls, learning how to play catcher, etc... IMHO you can achieve your objectives without playing slow pitch. Coach pitch is another option, but machine pitch (in my experience) is by far the best.

 

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Mike ... machine pitch at that age makes a lot of sense. As I think back, we were actually a combination of t-ball/coach pitch at 6-8, and then girls pitching starting at age 9 ... and my boys did half the season on machine pitch and half on boys pitching at 9-10.

I will also add though that my daughter went from being a slow pitch pitcher to a fast pitch pitcher, and still think some of her defensive abilities and mental approach to the game came from slow pitching ... e.g., you learn to forget very quickly about the last bad pitch.

 

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Coachjwb - for all the reasons you stated our 8u developmental league is machine pitch. 35 mph at 35 ft. It is amazing to see these 7-8 year olds hitting balls into the grass, getting lead runners, catching fly balls, learning how to play catcher, etc... IMHO you can achieve your objectives without playing slow pitch. Coach pitch is another option, but machine pitch (in my experience) is by far the best.

My question is how do u find an 8 u team. There must be very few. My dd has watched her older sister play travel and I want to get her started in travel sooner than her sister and at a higher level of play.

 

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You NEED to work with "ERICAYSL" as he just converted our local slow pitch community to fastpitch last year and can probably share his experience with you. I know there was lots of worry warts but Eric gave everyone a say and then provided all WHY's and it seems like all those worriers eventually bought into it.

All,

I've been asked to talk to a board in North East Ohio who still promotes slow pitch softball for girls. Consequently, the girls in the area are way behind when they begin playing fastpitch at the middle school and high school level. Therefore, my talk is meant to support the introduction of fastpitch softball to girls at a younger age.

I'm just getting things started and have not yet organized my thoughts and ideas but I know I would like to include some facts and statistics in my talk. If you know any sites or studies that you have seen or read that might be useful I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

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You NEED to work with "ERICAYSL" as he just converted our local slow pitch community to fastpitch last year and can probably share his experience with you. I know there was lots of worry warts but Eric gave everyone a say and then provided all WHY's and it seems like all those worriers eventually bought into it.

Thank you for the information and addressing my question. I will be sure to cotact Eric as soon as possible.

 

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several studies-dont have with me-google and also several were in NY times-they all had references

 

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Contact coach Donna Newberry at Muskingum. My DD didn't play for her, but I've known coach Newberry since we were kids - grew up in the same neighborhood. If anyone knows about the evolution of girl's fastpitch, combined with firsthand experience, it would be her.

 

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Best of luck. We weren't able to convince the local rec league to make the conversion when DD was playing; eventually they made the change, but I thought this was one of the last geographical areas to do so. Sometimes it's about the powers that be in the rec organizations and the fact that they aren't very knowledgeable about fastpitch, so they are unlikely to cede their management by making the conversion. That does a real disservice to the high school programs.