ASA vs PREMIER? 40 Feet vs 43 Feet 14u 2013??

[arkansassoftball]

War Eagle/Ga Boy, actually I'm talking about Oklahoma, Texas and surrounding states in particular. The pitching is way too spread out already. There are not near enough strong pitchers to go around for all the teams. I was recently at tournaments at Craig Ranch in McKinney, TX and talking to a college coach who was radaring every pitcher there at an 18U Showcase full of mainly Gold teams and they said there were only a hand full of pitchers there topping 60 mph and most were in the 56-58 range, with many #2s and #3s being slower. Why not let the best of each age compete at that age. Teams could move up in "Open" events, but let them play their true age in Qualifiers and National events.

[WarEagle/Ga. Boy]

Didnt see that coming did you. Both 43ft, Metal Cleats and Staggered Dates.

14u at 43' makes as much sense as staggering ASA and PGF so teams can play both.

[rdelawder12]

Maybe if 14U was at 43' then Pitchers may stay in thier age group longer, I see some second year 14u pitchers moving to 16 because of HS and the 43', but aren't ready to face the bats of 2nd year 16U players.
Maybe we could solve all problems in Club and eliminate the birth date and start going by graduation year, lol! Would never happen as I've seen so many so called Gold/18U rosters with 2015 and 2016 graduates, almost think Gold is non existent these days. Would like to see tournaments add a committed kids only brakcet, then maybe we could get back to the gold level and see the big kids play for a title instead of rotating for showcases, and would truly see which organizations are truly developing talent instead of inheriting or stealing it! Example: All Star game in Colorado that was televised of Committed kids only going to Major D1 programs, was a great game to watch!
2013/2014=18U
2015/2016=16U
2017/2018=14U

[ontheblack]

I didnt like the move to 43' originally, but my kid faired well with it. As someone who is more into the pitching side of it, I think it serves as a relatively good filter. There are a lot of pitchers out there that probably should consider giving up the idea that they are good enough to pitch at the next level - even if that level is 16U. Unfortunately with every dad and their brother with a TB team, the talent pool is pretty weak. If you cant pitch at 43' as a freshman, then its not likely to get better.

The up side to moving 14s to 43' is that many will stay at 14s and not make the jump to 16s "to get ready for HS" as I have heard so often.

[SoCalRageBlack]

***Update - November 12, 2012 - 14U Pitching Distance***


"Premier Girls Fastpitch has changed the pitching distance in the 14U Division, for the 2012/2013 season, to 43 feet."


So I read the fact that they are moving to 43', however any word on whether or not they will be implementing metal cleats???

[Iluvblue]

I spoke to Crystal Bustos a few years back and she said she and all of her teammates on team USA refused to use metal cleats. They don't give, but the knee does.

My kid used them during college and never had an issue, but I just don't see why they needed them in 14u. I also hate the idea of 43ft for pitchers at 14u.... Id guess for at least 65% of the pitchers, this will be a negative.

[ontheblack]

I spoke to Crystal Bustos a few years back and she said she and all of her teammates on team USA refused to use metal cleats. They don't give, but the knee does.

My kid used them during college and never had an issue, but I just don't see why they needed them in 14u. I also hate the idea of 43ft for pitchers at 14u.... Id guess for at least 65% of the pitchers, this will be a negative.

I had the same conversation. Jenny Finch was there and said the first time she wore metals was in college.

My kid wore molded most of the time playing 16s because of the knee.