Mask Watch

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Oct 1, 2014
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USA
Colin, thanks for sharing that story and glad your youngest DD is ok. One of my DD's plays 3rd when not catching and watching any player creep in for bunt coverage is always a bit tense (mask or not). FYI, I believe riseball was speaking in general about wearing a mask or not. It's my belief that there is still undue pressure on players to do or not do certain things just because that's what they have stuck in their head as being "the way it should be"...and that goes way beyond the mask issue to hitting, pitching, catching, throwing, hell to every aspect of the game!
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
...It's my belief that there is still undue pressure on players to do or not do certain things just because that's what they have stuck in their head as being "the way it should be"...and that goes way beyond the mask issue to hitting, pitching, catching, throwing, hell to every aspect of the game!

Kind of like life in general. Which is why as coaches we try to instill positive values and effective tools that transcend softball.
 
Oct 1, 2014
2,219
113
USA
Kind of like life in general. Which is why as coaches we try to instill positive values and effective tools that transcend softball.

Yep, made me think of this old tune as I posted. Bruce Hornsby and The Range "The Way It Is"...

"That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
Ah, but don't you believe them"
 
Nov 12, 2013
417
18
maritimes
one of the things i have tried to instill in all 3 of my dds is Independence. i have tried to let them make decisions i thought they were able to make. when my youngest dd said she did not need a mask, i said ok by not forcing the issue. i was was not ok with it because i have an understanding of the risks. that is now out of our hands. because of her getting hit there is now a rule requiring masks. my dds are not going to play softball in college. they like to play and i hope they learn how to cope with life by playing softball.
 
Jan 28, 2017
1,662
83
HS pitcher hit in the face this weekend and she wasn't wearing a mask. Very lucky to only have a concussion and cut.
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
i have a mask story. last summer my youngest dd decided she didn't need to wear a mask anymore. she was playing with my middle dd on a u18 team. we were at a tourney in montreal playing a team from new hampshire i think, in a pool game that was late because of rain. middle dd was pitching, youngest dd was 3b. first pitch of game batter fakes a bunt, youngest dd moves in, next pitch is crushed off her forehead in milliseconds. she wasn't knocked out but had trouble getting her breath back. i was terrified walking onto the field. hit her in the best spot, right in center of forehead. she is fine now, but it was a long night in the hospital. game is delayed for about an hour til we get away in ambulance then the other coach comes over and says he understands if our team does not want to finish game but, he needs a win. our coach talks to team, they are very upset want to go back to hotel etc., my middle dd rallys them and says she wants to play, so game continues. she is still pitching and they get down by 5 runs before coming back to win. in the middle of the game may flies start to come out by the thousands and are all over everything. middle dd had to pitch with mouth closed.

That is a mask story AND a mayfly story.
 
I saw Tim Walton give a presentation about infield defense in January 2016. During the Q/A that followed, someone in the audience asked his opinion about infielders wearing facemasks. He said that up until recently, he saw them as a deficiency -- that the fielder didn't have enough confidence in her glove skills. But he said that his opinion about it was changing, and that the prevalence of masks at the lower age levels (and Walton knows all about the lower age levels!) meant that we'd probably be seeing them more and more in the college game. In fact, he said, he had an incoming freshman who wears a mask and he was fine with it. I can only assume he was referring to Kelly Barnhill.
barnhill.jpg
 
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Yes. That was the Be The Best coaching clinic in New Jersey. I was the one that asked that question. Because this topic riles me up. I coach a 10U travel team, and in 2010 I had a hard-throwing 9U that was a regular in our pitching rotation. In the spring: line drive up the middle. Straight to the face, just below her left eye. Face was swollen for weeks. To this day, she still absent-mindedly pokes at her face. Until that moment, I had always recommended masks, but never forced anyone to wear one. Starting the next season, I had an epiphany: I was the head coach, and if I wanted everyone to wear a mask, then they'll darn well wear a mask. Now, every year, I tell every parent at tryouts that their 10yo DD will be wearing a mask if they play for me and, if they don't like it, they should play for another team. In the years that have followed, every 10U team we play against now wears masks.

Sounds like a success for acceptance of the mask, right? Well... Each year, I pass my 10Us up to the 12U level, and *almost* every year, the new coach will yell at them on the first day of practice to take the masks off. "No one will recruit you if you wear a mask!" This is why I asked my question when I did. Now, if a 12U coach insists a girl can't get recruited wearing a mask, I ask them, "How many D1 coaches have you actually talked to personally about that?" Of course, none of them has. So I tell them the story you just told. They still don't accept the premise, but I feel with more masks appearing in college, we're making progress.

I'm convinced this will play out just like it did in hockey. Anyone who's old enough can remember when no hockey players wore a face shield. The players fought against mandatory face shields tooth and nail, saying almost exactly the same nonsense that today's softball players say about fielding masks: "If you wear a mask, you will become afraid of the puck." "Masks hinder your play and obstruct your vision." "I've played my whole life without a mask, and they're no way I can adjust now." Well, face shields became mandatory and, lo and behold, none of the doomsayers proved accurate. Today we look back and think those guys were insane for ever playing without a face shield. In 10 years, we will be saying the same thing about fielding masks.
 

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