ASA Proposed Rule and Code Changes

[cencal]

Anyone have any thoughts or insight for any upcoming proposed rule and code changes at this years ASA Council Meeting. Here is some of what I have seen so far.

Code Change Proposals:

*** Effective January 1, 2014, unless specified otherwise.
Establish an annual registration from September 1 thru August 31. If changed then all JO Registrations received by August 31 will determine berths for Nationals.
(This would change ASA’s registration season from the current Jan 1-Dec 31 to Sept 1-Aug 31.)

*** Effective January 1, 2014
Junior Olympic Classification. Once a player participates in an intercollegiate softball program for a university, college or junior/community college, she is ineligible to play in the Junior Olympic program.
(This would prevent girls who have played in college but are still age eligible from playing in any ASA Youth National Championships)

*** Effective January 1, 2014
Once a player participates in an intercollegiate softball program for a university, college or junior/community college, she is eligible to play in the Junior Olympic program. Each JO team is limited to three (3) total university, college or junior/community college players on their roster. College players cannot be a pick-up player, they must appear on the original roster.
(This would mean that JO teams would be limited to 3 college players per roster in ASA Championship play. The college players would still be age eligible for the event they’re playing in.)

*** Effective January 1, 2014
Delete Junior Olympic Classification which limits college participation to Class A and Class B
(This would allow college players to play in all ASA JO programs as long as they are age eligible.)

*** Effective January 1, 2014
Add a 16-Under GOLD Division
(This would add a new classification of play for ASA Softball)

*** Effective January 1, 2014
Amend the divisions of Girls’ Championship Play: 18 GOLD, 18 Class A, 17 Class A, 16 Class A, 15 Class A, 14 Class A, 13 Class A, 12 Class A, 11 Class A 10 Class A
(This would increase the number of divisions in JO girls FP)

*** Effective January 1, 2014
Local association berths may be open to all ASA registered teams from any association if the host state/metro commissioner chooses. Teams from outside the local association MUST have a National Championship Entry Form and Championship Roster signed by their State/Metro Commissioner or designee in order to participate.
(This would allow teams to travel outside of their region or territory in order to qualify for ASA National Championships if the commissioner of the association hosting that qualifier chooses to accept them for the event.)

[MTR]

Anyone have any thoughts or insight for any upcoming proposed rule and code changes at this years ASA Council Meeting. Here is some of what I have seen so far.

Code Change Proposals:

*** Effective January 1, 2014, unless specified otherwise.
Establish an annual registration from September 1 thru August 31. If changed then all JO Registrations received by August 31 will determine berths for Nationals.
(This would change ASA’s registration season from the current Jan 1-Dec 31 to Sept 1-Aug 31.)

This was defeated last year right down to a final vote on the floor on the final day. The largest opponent: SoCal because they claim it affects their league play. It should be noted that this is just for registration. Last year it seemed quite a few could not distinguish this date from the age cut-off date. The age cut-off date would remain the same, this is just when team/individual registrations would take effect.

*** Effective January 1, 2014
Junior Olympic Classification. Once a player participates in an intercollegiate softball program for a university, college or junior/community college, she is ineligible to play in the Junior Olympic program.
(This would prevent girls who have played in college but are still age eligible from playing in any ASA Youth National Championships)

*** Effective January 1, 2014
Once a player participates in an intercollegiate softball program for a university, college or junior/community college, she is eligible to play in the Junior Olympic program. Each JO team is limited to three (3) total university, college or junior/community college players on their roster. College players cannot be a pick-up player, they must appear on the original roster.
(This would mean that JO teams would be limited to 3 college players per roster in ASA Championship play. The college players would still be age eligible for the event they’re playing in.)

The first half would just be a step back to where we were a few years ago. The second proposal was being discussed in the background years ago, but it seemed so many people were concentrating on a definitive yes or no, there was very little room left for discussion of alternatives. This presently works at the high end of the slow-pitch game and I wouldn't discount it as an alternative for those who claim this is not a college recruiting issue.

*** Effective January 1, 2014
Add a 16-Under GOLD Division
(This would add a new classification of play for ASA Softball)

This, too, was defeated last year, but by consensus of the committees. This wouldn't be a bad thing, but I believe it would be better if there was some standard other than a team just declaring they are gold.

*** Effective January 1, 2014
Amend the divisions of Girls’ Championship Play: 18 GOLD, 18 Class A, 17 Class A, 16 Class A, 15 Class A, 14 Class A, 13 Class A, 12 Class A, 11 Class A 10 Class A
(This would increase the number of divisions in JO girls FP)

This comes up about every other year. The discussion often ends up on a point that it does little other than increase tournaments without increasing the number of participants.

[PDad]

*** Effective January 1, 2014
Amend the divisions of Girls’ Championship Play: 18 GOLD, 18 Class A, 17 Class A, 16 Class A, 15 Class A, 14 Class A, 13 Class A, 12 Class A, 11 Class A 10 Class A
(This would increase the number of divisions in JO girls FP)

I doubt this could be effective for 2014 at this late date.

Pros:
- 13U could revert back to pitching from 40' and no metal cleats.
- Reduces number of teams at ASA/USA Nats to more manageable numbers.
- Provides more National options to teams - play at own age or up 1 year.
- Best at younger ages (i.e. 11U and 13U) where bigger differences in physical development.

Cons:
- Further weakens ASA Nats (e.g. Western) with another ASA/USA Nat and doubling ASA Nats.
- Further weakens strength of ASA/USA Nats as weaker teams will be able to qualify.
- Unnecessary for older ages (i.e. 15U and 17U).
- 17A won't draw very many teams due to already having 18A and 18G.

[MTR]

16U Gold was approved and apparently there will be a NC in 2014

[AlwaysImprove]

16U Gold was approved and apparently there will be a NC in 2014

That is just nonsense but I guess it is par for the course for ASA these days.

You forgot to add in another circular gyration cycle with endless parsing and teeth gnashing on the college player issue. They gotta be playing better than par on this course by now.

[Battle]

That is just nonsense but I guess it is par for the course for ASA these days.

Maybe you would prefer "Platinum"?

[ajaywill]

The registration date change was passed as a Legislative change by the Board of Directors and it was unnecessary for it to be voted on. It was passed as an option for any individual local association to use if they chose to.

Too many options were presented regarding the college player in JO issue that nothing was changed. There was a change to re-name 23under to 18 over and eliminate Women's Major, A, and B. The rationale given was that many ex-college players still wanted to play competitivley, but had aged out of 23U and thought that Women's A would be like playing with their mothers. We'll see how this works out.

[MTR]

The registration date change was passed as a Legislative change by the Board of Directors and it was unnecessary for it to be voted on. It was passed as an option for any individual local association to use if they chose to.

Too many options were presented regarding the college player in JO issue that nothing was changed. There was a change to re-name 23under to 18 over and eliminate Women's Major, A, and B. The rationale given was that many ex-college players still wanted to play competitivley, but had aged out of 23U and thought that Women's A would be like playing with their mothers. We'll see how this works out.

23U was a joke to start with and was only initiated because it was different and no one stopped to think about the redundancy