When are they going to start giving respect to girls???

[steve77621]

I am not going to list any tournaments or tournament directors because I don’t know all the circumstances and I know how hard it is to run a tournament. That being said, I love softball. I absolutely love when 2 good teams get together at any age and have a back and forth game.(Too me personally it’s a thing of beauty to watch and see high level softball). However, the last 3 tournaments I have been in have really made me sick to my stomach with the lack of respect. We have twice had to play on boys fields with the pitching mound in the infield, we have had boys batter boxes (when I mentioned it to 1 umpire he said what’s the difference? Both my slappers who are only 10yrs old just shook their heads), and then we got put on a jv or varsity high school field with 280 foot fences with basically major league type backstops at 10u. Every pitch that got by a catcher you could go 1st to 3rd. I just wish with all the hard work that we as coaches ask these young ladies to put in that they as players felt like they came first. Instead of a afterthought.

 

[BulldawgsDirector]

To me that is just the quality of event you are in. Those are the type of issues that just make me shake my head and think "wont be back coming here". I personally choose not to complain about events, I just learn and move on. There are a ton of great TD's and Venues in this state where you should always get your monies worth. Good Luck.

 

[Tallmadge Force Gold]

I think the same thing happens to younger baseball teams. Younger boys baseball teams play on softball fields without mounds. They play on 60/90 fields when they are pitching from 46'. Outfielders standing in the dirt because no one will hit the ball out of the larger infield.

It is just the lack of fields for the age group and the tournaments want to accommodate as many teams as possible. Even at the older ages for baseball, you can have a tournament in one city and have to travel 50 miles between fields.

 

[CARDS]

It really is a struggle getting a lot of TDs in Ohio to hit all the boxes when it comes to ladies fastpitch.
If they can get field set up and safety handled, it would work out a lot of the other things that effects the players fans and even umpires.
The little things like restroom facilities and warmup areas many parks struggle with when hosting events.

Honestly; some recreational and city facilities are what I have seen that is better structured than the large mega parks for youth softball events outside of Berliner but even that park has some problems.

The layout for men's softball leaves the players vulnerable on the bench as well outside the field of play with they placement of dugouts , back stop type and field seperation at many parks.There is also the safety issues with trying to use facilities designed for baseball especially for the younger platers/teams. Fencing 3' or 4' foot tall in front of dugout or no fencing, bench wells etc.
Other issues I have seen are 2-3 pitching plates (to make it easier to set up a field) and bases not set at the correct length. I will say Stingrays always seemed to run a good event with proper set up and Terry at Beavercreek.

Heck, I remember a sanctioning body using a very nice baseball park for their State 16U tournament. It was nice but it also changed the game with 400 fences and pitching mounds, as others said the large foul territory behind the plate and down the lines also created issues. I remember one field with a movable back stop that also created issues. The dangers exist for spectators as well at some of these places. Foul balls with no netting, no warm up area available so kids are warming up in the eating/picnic or parking areas. Seen many cars and people hit with balls over the years.