Slow pitch softball is a thing of the past coach. Think about this....

How many colleges across the country give scholarships for slow pitch softball?

 

...And other than a pitcher here and there, how many Kentucky HS players receive substantial scholarship money for Fast Pitch? The thought that there is scholarship money available to these players is a "Baloney"

 

I personally enjoyed the slow pitch game much more than the fast pitch. It put a premium on defense (rather than just having a dominant pitcher) and also had some aspects of strategy such as moving runners and hitting with placement in mind. I also liked a well played 10 - 8 game over a 2-0, 1 hitter.

...And other than a pitcher here and there, how many Kentucky HS players receive substantial scholarship money for Fast Pitch? The thought that there is scholarship money available to these players is a "Baloney"

I personally enjoyed the slow pitch game much more than the fast pitch. It put a premium on defense (rather than just having a dominant pitcher) and also had some aspects of strategy such as moving runners and hitting with placement in mind. I also liked a well played 10 - 8 game over a 2-0, 1 hitter.

Not so fast my friend. According to the KSCA website, there have been 236 Kentucky high school players sign to play college fastpitch softball over the last five years, including this year's senior class. That number will undoubtedly go up considerably as the class of 2007 seniors make their college decisions. Obviously the majority of these signees are not receiving full scholarships to play softball. But they are receiving some scholarship money that they would not have received if they had played slow pitch softball in high school. And yes, many of these players are pitchers but certainly not all of them. The University of Kentucky has four signees on this list, Amber Janneck from Boone Co., Brooke Marnitz from Dunbar, Ali Ray, from North Laurel, and Jennifer Young from North Hardin. Of these four, only Young is a pitcher, and Janneck and Marnitz have had outstanding careers at UK. Also, Mary Ratliff, a former standout catcher from Montgomery Co. is currently the starting right fielder for the University of Florida. You can view this list at the following address: http://www.kyhighschoolsoftball.com/kycolleges.htm

 

Slow pitch softball is fun to play and can be entertaining to watch, but so is wiffle ball, kick ball, putt putt golf, flag football, etc. It's time for the schools still playing slow pitch to make the switch to fastpitch and give their student athletes the same opportunities that others receive.

The key word in bold there is "substantial". To say that they are not full scholarships may be a bit of an understatement. The scholarships received are typically very, very small (in the neighborhood of $500). I hated to see a HS sport eliminated, especially under the pretense of all the scholarship monies that the Kentucky students were missing out on.

EQUUS GREVYI , I have to disagree about the strategy and defense of the fastpitch game . to think there is not strategy in the game is crazy , moving runners over and getting them in vs a good pitcher and defense is sometimes a chess match . Ther are few pitchers in high school that dominate the game . Allen from Ryle is one of them that can . I gues we just disagree on this , I think this game is great .I think there is more strategy in fastpitch than slowpitch .

I have no facts on scholarships but would tend to think there is much more available than you may think . My daughter receives letters from schools regularly . This is not scholarships but I believe the money is there to get .

Slowpitch is huge in Oklahoma and Mississippi at the high school level.

 

In OK, they play FP in the fall and SP in the spring. It's backwards from that in MS.

The best idea I have heard yet, softball whether slow or fast needs to have a fall and spring season, just like the colleges. We get about 3 weeks to practice prior to the season starting in the spring. Would love to have a place to play indoor...I know keep on dreaming....

The best idea I have heard yet, softball whether slow or fast needs to have a fall and spring season, just like the colleges. We get about 3 weeks to practice prior to the season starting in the spring. Would love to have a place to play indoor...I know keep on dreaming....

Dream no more FP30.

http://www.championsbaseball.com/index.aspx?branch=cincinnati&id=3

 

I do not know the age limit on their leagues, but they list indoor fastpitch. They may have the HS age indoor leagues during the offseason.

 

Call them and see. I am sure Coach Collins would love to see the girls' playing in the offseason.

Thanks for the info, wish I would of known about this when my daughter was younger, will talk to them to see if they know about 16 yrs old and up...

Those teams playing slow pitch MUST play 10 fast pitch games in order to qualify for the slow pitch state sanctioned tournament. Another KHSAA mandate to force what they want.

Those teams playing slow pitch MUST play 10 fast pitch games in order to qualify for the slow pitch state sanctioned tournament. Another KHSAA mandate to force what they want.

Just to point out KHSAA was FORCED by the KY state legislature to offer fast pitch instead of slow pitch. They are simply following what was thrust upon them by your elected state representatives.

That is true. The legislature did force this. However......the KHSAA could help promote both. The legislature did not say to kill slow pitch though. Only offer fast pitch.

That is true. The legislature did force this. However......the KHSAA could help promote both. The legislature did not say to kill slow pitch though. Only offer fast pitch.

And KHSAA NEVER did anything to kill slow pitch. EACH individual schools have the choice to offer slow pitch or not. It was EACH individual schools choice. The KHSAA sanctioned the state title till the number of schools out of 270 some playing softball dropped to about 15. That is approximately 5% of the schools.

 

THEN and only THEN did they begin to not sanction it.

Having been directly involved in this the state KHSAA did do things that did kill slow pitch. Choice? It was kind of like saying people got to vote on the leader in Communist Russia. Yes they had elections.....but no choices.

And KHSAA NEVER did anything to kill slow pitch. EACH individual schools have the choice to offer slow pitch or not. It was EACH individual schools choice. The KHSAA sanctioned the state title till the number of schools out of 270 some playing softball dropped to about 15. That is approximately 5% of the schools.

 

THEN and only THEN did they begin to not sanction it.

 

Ummm kind of sort of.

 

 

Truthfully the KHSAA did not give clear direction or follow-up concerning the mandated introduction of Fast-pitch IMO.

 

Basically the way I understand it the KHSAA and their member schools were required to offer a signup choice for Fast Pitch Softball. If enough players were interested in Fast Pitch then a team must be formed. If there were enough players interested in Slow pitch then a team must be formed. Somehow that sort of morphed into only Fast Pitch being offered in most schools, only Slow pitch being offered in some schools, some schools offering both and fielding teams in both.

 

There really wasn't clear direction as to how schools were to pay for both (if there were enough players interested ) and the KHSAA kind of steered clear of any direction or follow-up.

Ummm kind of sort of.

 

 

Truthfully the KHSAA did not give clear direction or follow-up concerning the mandated introduction of Fast-pitch IMO.

 

Basically the way I understand it the KHSAA and their member schools were required to offer a signup choice for Fast Pitch Softball. If enough players were interested in Fast Pitch then a team must be formed. If there were enough players interested in Slow pitch then a team must be formed. Somehow that sort of morphed into only Fast Pitch being offered in most schools, only Slow pitch being offered in some schools, some schools offering both and fielding teams in both.

 

There really wasn't clear direction as to how schools were to pay for both (if there were enough players interested ) and the KHSAA kind of steered clear of any direction or follow-up.

 

IMO, You are Dead wrong. Why did 15 other regions get the message and one refuse to listen? The other 15 regions quickly began, at KHSAA's direction, to get their coaches to clinics, pitching and catching lessons began to spring up to help the girls, and the sport quickly developed. From what i observed, the direction was given (and frankly, is very very clear in the state law) to switch, and one area simply refused. And at that time, one member of the KHSAA Board had a daughter playing slow and convinced the other schools to simply ignore the law. Now, those schools that have waited 10 full years to listen to the mandate, will complain that they shouldn't be put into existing fast pitch districts because they aren't good enough yet.

 

When Rep. Northrup passed the bill (yes, that is now Governor candidate Northrup), it was very clear the intent was to change from slow pitch to fast. Some people are just better than others at refusing to listen. And those adults who stonewalled now have their kids at a tremendous disadvantage just because they didn't want to be told what to do.