A few years ago, we had to play an all girls team at Cooperstown. We were one of the "favorites" that year. There must have been a few hundred people in the stands for this game. Luckily, we won 9-0. I don't think our pitcher gave up a hit until the 5th inning. Needless to say, our boys were pretty nervous and rode our pitcher pretty hard whenever the girls hit the ball hard.
"...had to play...." Interesting view. Fear?
Until puberty is on the scene there isn't much difference between the strngth of boys and girls. Since girls mature about a year before boys they actually have an advantage. Girls teams at age 11 and 12 are on a par with boys. Then the boys are much stronger and gain the advantage para siempre.
Until puberty is on the scene there isn't much difference between the strngth of boys and girls. Since girls mature about a year before boys they actually have an advantage. Girls teams at age 11 and 12 are on a par with boys. Then the boys are much stronger and gain the advantage para siempre.
Yes...our boys were nervous. At Cooperstown, with 200' fences, anything can happen.
Actually, skillwise, the girls weren't even close.
Actually, skillwise, the girls weren't even close.
hawk
are you saying that women do not want to put the best team on the field----go tell that to Jennie Finch !!!!
are you saying that women do not want to put the best team on the field----go tell that to Jennie Finch !!!!
I don't have a problem with a girl tyring out for the baseball team. She just has to be judged by the same standards as the boys.
My son played LL with a girl through 13U Babe Ruth. For the first couple of years (9-10) she was one of the best fielders on the team and not a bad hitter. Very fundementally sound. As they got older the lack of speed and strength was very evident.
She tried out last year and made the freshman team. She tried out this year and was cut. The rumor the past two years was that if she was cut her mom (dad deceased) was going to sue the school district. Nothing has hit the streets in the past week since the cuts were made.
The bottom line is that this girl and most girls cannot compete with HS boys and should be judged just as any other boy trying out would be. That will take care politics and gender discrimination IMO.
My son played LL with a girl through 13U Babe Ruth. For the first couple of years (9-10) she was one of the best fielders on the team and not a bad hitter. Very fundementally sound. As they got older the lack of speed and strength was very evident.
She tried out last year and made the freshman team. She tried out this year and was cut. The rumor the past two years was that if she was cut her mom (dad deceased) was going to sue the school district. Nothing has hit the streets in the past week since the cuts were made.
The bottom line is that this girl and most girls cannot compete with HS boys and should be judged just as any other boy trying out would be. That will take care politics and gender discrimination IMO.
quote:are you saying that women do not want to put the best team on the field----go tell that to Jennie Finch !!!!
They want to put the best women's team on the field.
Softball is #1 here in Tucson and Jennie is the Queen. We also have the national HS player of the year and several top 10 HS programs. Very few HS baseball players could just step in and play competitive softball. It's a different skill set. I love to watch softball and have grown to appreciate it for it's own merits. But, IMHO, if softball became a co-ed sport, eventually boys would dominate...
Softball dads are even worse than us baseball dads. Softball is huge in my area and has some fantastic players! It is a different game--a great softball pitcher in high school is almost unhittable--seems like it would be a better game if they moved the mound back 5 feet and get more offense-IMHO
Title IX was not created for sports. It was created for equality. The original premise was based on girls with the same grades were not getting accepted to college and receiving academic scholarships at the same rate as boys. And until the NCAA and college presidents are willing to admit men's football and basketball is big time business why shouldn't the women have equal opportunity to participate in college sports? They absolutely should have equal opportunity to participate in high school sports. Sports are just an extracurricular activity.
Should the boys get a new locker room while the girls inherit the mold infested old locker room? Should the baseball field get returfed while the softball outfield has the texture of a cow pasture? Absolutely not! Especially since the girls teams were winning more conference titles and sending more athletes on to college sports than the boys teams. These issues were part of the Title IX lawsuit at our high school.
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There are men's softball teams. They would kick tail on the women's Olympic team. The men pitch in the 90's. The best women get into the 70's. But put a bunch of inexperienced (in softball) MLB baseball stars up at the plate in a softball game and watch them get humiliated. There's a YouTube video of Jennie Finch mowing them over.
Should the boys get a new locker room while the girls inherit the mold infested old locker room? Should the baseball field get returfed while the softball outfield has the texture of a cow pasture? Absolutely not! Especially since the girls teams were winning more conference titles and sending more athletes on to college sports than the boys teams. These issues were part of the Title IX lawsuit at our high school.
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There are men's softball teams. They would kick tail on the women's Olympic team. The men pitch in the 90's. The best women get into the 70's. But put a bunch of inexperienced (in softball) MLB baseball stars up at the plate in a softball game and watch them get humiliated. There's a YouTube video of Jennie Finch mowing them over.
Softball doesn't have a mound. It has a circle. A few years ago the college rubber was moved back to forty-three feet. It made a difference. 18U/Gold is also forty-three feet. State by state the high schools are making the move.quote:Originally posted by Baseball Dad 46:
Softball dads are even worse than us baseball dads. Softball is huge in my area and has some fantastic players! It is a different game--a great softball pitcher in high school is almost unhittable--seems like it would be a better game if they moved the mound back 5 feet and get more offense-IMHO
One of my friends has a theory on softball dads. He said they're former baseball players ticked off they didn't have a boy. I'm a softball dad. But I have a boy too.