Metal Cleats in High School

[zeroedge]

I agree with your daughter.

 

If you are trying to be funny , I dont think anybody is laughing.

[ksgovols]

Geez O Pete!

 

I think softball needs the double bags at first, break away bases at 2nd and 3rd, face masks on the helmets and a RIF 4 ball and as much body armor as they can wear. /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

 

Chicken Little played high school softball didn't he.

[catsbackr]

If you are trying to be funny , I dont think anybody is laughing.

 

I'm not trying to be funny.

 

However, I do believe that some of the other posters are.

 

There will be no more injuries with metal cleats than with rubber. There will probably be many fewer slips by outfielders and runners rounding bases will actually be able to stop instead of sliding.

 

I really did think this horse was dead, apparently not.

[Best]

I'm not trying to be funny.

 

However, I do believe that some of the other posters are.

 

There will be no more injuries with metal cleats than with rubber. There will probably be many fewer slips by outfielders and runners rounding bases will actually be able to stop instead of sliding.

 

I really did think this horse was dead, apparently not.

 

Major injuries are never funny and I agree your last comment on this topic was uncalled for.

 

Take a look at this kid and read her fathers comments:

 

http://a892.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/image...7efd7a0ae4b.jpg

 

Please let me introduce myself. My name is Ed Naudin, and my daughter Chanin was involved in a serious accident at her recent softball game. During a tag play at 3rd Base, she got spiked on her left shin. The severity of the injury was so significant that she needed to be carted off the field by paramedics, and she was sent to the McKinney ER facility for immediate care. Please sign our petition to reinstate the ban. http://banmet.epetitions.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fortunately, she did not incur any broken bones or ligament damage.

 

This injury occurred on March 15th at the Princeton - Van Alstyn softball game. The baserunner was wearing metal spikes, and unfortunately, those spikes caught hold of my daughter's shin and tore upon a huge gash. The spike wound penetrated over 3" inches deep, and the gash went across the entire shin. This extreme damage required over 27 stitches to close the wound.

 

A recent decision by the UIL has allowed High School softball players to begin utilizing metal spikes during the current 2008 season. Our efforts with the UIL and local School Districts are focused on gaining greater attention on this matter. The hope and goal is to have this decision re-considered, and eliminate the usage of metal spikes for High School Girls Softball.

 

Seeing my daughter in significant pain, and knowing that this incident could have been avoided, is both troubling and concerning. Direct feedback from the UIL indicates that they will continue to monitor this situation, and they remain of the opinion that metal spikes are "safer" than rubber cleats.

 

I believe an injury of this severity should be an immediate call to action, no other player should be left to suffer this type of laceration again.

 

Without question, the number and severity of injuries suffered by our softball players has risen and continues to be documented during the 2008 season. With your assistance, I am confident that we can capture the interest and heart of this community to drive the appropriate changes.

 

Together, we can make a real difference and increase the safety of this sport and the welfare and health of our current and future young athletes. Metal Spikes do not have their place in High School Softball, and the quicker they are removed, the better for this sport. The governing body for ASA Junior Olympic Softball has banned their usage for their athletes, and we must follow their lead.

[bluesfan]

The bottom line? Metal spikes not good in high school

By John Radtke | Daily Herald Columnist

 

I don't like spikes. Let's put that on the table as an appetizer right up front. I don't like spikes.

 

In nine years of coaching college-age girls in summer softball, the four worst injuries I've seen -- and all four were darn ugly -- came as the result of players wearing metal spikes.And now they're coming to high school softball.

 

As players and coaches prepare for the start of the 2008 season with the official opening of practice on Monday, they also prepare for the onset of the spike era in prep softball.

 

Late last summer, the National Federation of High School Associations approved the use of metal spikes for high school softball.

 

According to the NFHS Web site release, Cindy Simmons of Oregon, the chair of the NFHS softball rules committee, cited better traction on nearly all surfaces, as well as reduced slippage on the bases, especially home plate, as the rationale behind approving metal spikes.

 

The release then went on to say that current rules prohibit runners from using illegal tactics when sliding and that if sliding is executed correctly, the risk of defensive players being spiked will decrease.

 

"We had gotten the proposal for several years from coaches and we had always explained it that we didn't allow metal cleats because of safety," said Mary Struckhoff of the NFHS, and a former assistant executive secretary of the Illinois High School Association, who made it clear the wearing of spikes is optional and not mandatory.

 

"They came back with the traction issue and the more the committee discussed it the more the issue of superior functionality came into play. The NCAA can use them and high school boys can use them in baseball. We know we get injuries with molded cleats and we think this might prevent some of those injuries, like some ACL injuries."

 

Sorry, that doesn't sell me. Nor did it sell the IHSA's softball advisory committee, which recommended not allowing Illinois high school players to use metal cleats. That recommendation was not approved by the IHSA board of directors.

 

"If we would have had that recommendation accepted we would have been breaking away from the NFHS rules," said the IHSA's Kurt Gibson, who administers softball for the association. "It's rare for us to even have an advisory committee recommend not following an NFHS rule but the coaches on the committee wanted it on record they were opposed to it."

 

Gibson, like many coaches in the area, isn't totally sold on high school kids using metal cleats.

 

"I'm always wanting to see some sound logic for a rules change," he said. "This was one where the Federation said it's not any more dangerous wearing metal cleats and they couldn't offer a reason why they allow boys to wear them and not girls. But I've never seen any statistical data and that made me uncomfortable. My personal view was against it."

 

So, too, are many coaches.

 

"I don't like it," said Burlington Central coach Scot Sutherland. "We're so concerned about safety, why are we going to this? With a regular slide, good or bad, there's a good chance of getting ripped up. How many kids will be sitting on the bench for a week or two because they have stitches from getting spiked?"

 

Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith doesn't like it either.

 

"I'm not a big fan of metal cleats in the high school game," he said. "I wish the IHSA had said no. It's going to cause some serious coaching on our part to teach the kids how to use them properly."

 

For that reason, there is a very good six-page article posted on the NFHS Web site (www.nfhs.org) with comments from college and travel ball coaches on the issue of transitioning from rubber cleats to metal. I would recommend all coaches and players read it. Click the softball tab and it's right there.But I still don't like spikes and no one yet has given me a compelling reason to. Lindsey Hall, Melissa Folsom, Sabrina Drogos and Kathleen Chase and their bloody trips to the hospital remain strong enough reasons for me to not like spikes.

"At the onset I'm afraid we'll see a rash of injuries," said Wolfsmith, who added that his team is divided on wearing them or not with returning all-area and Illinois State-bound catcher Elizabeth Kay the one player who has already purchased her new metal.

 

Therein lies another problem. Struckhoff cited the fact metal spikes are worn in college. While it is a high school coach's responsibility to ready athletes for college, we all know the percentage of high school players who will actually play college softball is low. College coaches have training programs to transition players to metal spikes -- why does it have to be done in high school?Additionally, summer travel teams aren't allowed to wear metal spikes, so now we're going to have some kids wearing metal in the spring, rubber in the summer and then back to metal for high school. That makes about as much sense as our winter weather.

 

Another metal spike issue is that there's no age limitation. Freshmen through seniors are allowed to wear them.

 

"I'm a little leery of them and I think it could hurt with the younger kids," said Cary-Grove coach Tammy Olson. "Summer teams don't use them and that will make it inconsistent."

 

Olson, who is leaving the wearing of spikes up to her players, played college softball and says her transition from molded to metal went without incident. But ??¦

 

"I've known a lot of girls who injured themselves by spiking themselves," she said.

 

The IHSA's Gibson also didn't like the inference about preparing kids for the college game.

 

"We serve different kids," he said. "My concern is that we're not changing rules just for the next level. I'm always protective of our codes. It's not mandatory but I also know since it's allowed there are going to be a lot of kids out there who will be wearing them. Umpires have rule coverage to handle illegal slides, coaches will have to prepare kids for metal spikes and, to the National Federation's credit, they have put some education out there for coaches."

 

Then there's the coaches who are OK with metal. At Barrington, the 2008 Fillies will all be wearing them.

 

"All of our kids are going to wear them at the varsity level," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson, who said he does have concerns with the summer issue and the transition issues from molded to metal.

 

"We wear team shoes and have since I came here in 1993. We haven't had a ton of spike injuries over the years but if we have issues with metal cleats I might have to rethink it."

 

Larkin coach Larry Hight is all for metal spikes.

 

"I'm an old baseball guy and I like it," Hight said. "They're allowed to wear them in college and I think it's OK in high school too. I think metal spikes is the way to go. They help a lot with traction."

 

Hight agrees the onus of making sure kids use metal spikes properly will be on the coaches.[/b]"With girls that don't know how to slide with the metal it could be a problem," he conceded. "We as coaches are going to have to address that."

The issues are many, but here's another one. On the aforementioned article on the NFHS Web site, Simpson College coach Henry Christowski said the most serious metal spike injury he's had was when a girl slipped on the bathroom concrete. That might make you chuckle but most dugout floors are made of concrete.

 

"There's some training that has to go with it," Struckhoff said. "You don't put on any new piece of equipment and expect to be perfect with it. Wearing metal spikes is like learning to walk again."

Bottom line? High school softball players will be allowed to wear spikes this year. So, I would implore all players, coaches and parents to educate themselves and to look at the safety issue far far ahead of better traction.

 

And if you guessed I still don't like spikes, you're right.

[thatsafact]

Debate over steel cleats rages in softball circles

 

By Jeremy Wise

 

Published: March 30, 2008

 

It started as just another day out on the softball field for Kinston pitcher Bethany Holley.

 

The Class 1A state all-tournament team member was playing in Kinston??™s fourth game of the season, facing Providence Christian on the road Feb. 25 in an important area contest.

 

Little did she know it would be her final game of the 2008 season.

 

Holley, who has pitched for the Kinston varsity since she was in the eighth grade, said she noticed her back foot kept getting caught on the pitching rubber early.

 

The pitching rubber was a bit raised above the ground, possibly because dirt was dug out from in front due to usage.

 

In the third inning, her metal cleats caught the mound again, and as Holley planted, her leg gave away.

 

She heard a snap, she said.

 

It was the sound of her anterior cruciate ligament ripping in two.

 

Holley said the injury could have happened with rubber cleats, but ???I have never experienced my foot getting caught with rubber cleats.???

 

Holley??™s injury has helped fuel discussion of a new rule in softball in high schools nationwide.

 

Every year, the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations (NFHS) reviews rules in all sanctioned sports and makes changes where they see fit.

 

One rule change for 2008 has thrown the softball community into a heated debate.

 

Before 2008, softball players were not allowed to wear metal cleats, which are sometimes made of steel.

 

That changed with a revision to the rule book for 2008.

 

The move to approve metal cleats was deemed necessary due to safety concerns.

 

The following statement was released by the NFHS in regard to the rules change: ???Metal cleats provide better traction for athletes on nearly all surfaces, including hard, wet or under-maintained fields,??? said Cindy Simmons, chair of the NFHS Softball Rules Committee from Oregon. ???They also help prevent slippage on the bases, especially home plate.???

 

Some teams, coaches and players would disagree, for Holley is not the only stalwart pitcher to be felled with an injury blamed on metal cleats.

 

Earlier this year, Riverdale (Tenn.) High School pitcher Cat Hosfield broke her ankle sliding into a base, according to The Nashville Tennessean.

 

Hosfield, a Tennessee signee, struck out a national record 659 batters last year.

 

When Hosfield attempted to pop up from her slide, the metal cleats did not give, according to The Tennessean.

 

In the report, Riverdale coach Jeff Breeden said,???It all comes back to the metal cleats. Before the injury, I liked us having them. But if these guys are doing a pop-up slide, they better not pop up. When her cleat hung, it broke the bones instead of rolling the ankle.???

 

And Holley is not the only one on her team to suffer an injury blamed on metal cleats.

 

The defending 1A state champion Kinston Lady Bulldogs lost second baseman Holli Kilcrease to a severe ankle sprain when she slid into home in a tournament in Troy Feb. 29 and March 1.

 

Kilcrease has not played since.

 

Those two injuries, coupled with a few others, have depleted the Lady Bulldogs, who own a 4-7-1 record through last week.

 

???We took all of our girls out of steel cleats. I didn??™t want them to begin with, but you don??™t want to be at a competitive disadvantage,??? Lady Bulldogs head softball coach Janie Wiggins said.

 

The advantage of metal cleats, according to many coaches, is the traction, which allows for more speed.

 

???The girls like it because of the better traction,??? said Ben Thompson, Lady Wildcats head softball coach. ???When they get to college, they??™re wearing them there.???

Jaime Carruthers, New Brockton head softball coach and a former Alabama A&M softball player, said, ???I??™ve played with them in college. You were laughed at if you wore plastic cleats.???

 

She also said her players love them, including her pitchers, who say they can push off better with them.

 

Other players like them for other reasons.

 

???I love them. They??™re lightweight,??? said Hannah Beth Baker, an Enterprise Lady Wildcats infielder.

 

Lady Wildcat catcher Sara Hilton, who will play next year at Shelton State Community College, said she likes the metal cleats for the better traction in wetter conditions.

 

She also likes them for their durability.

 

???The cleats, when they are rubber, they wear down,??? she said.

 

In addition to concerns about injuries when hitting a bag while sliding, another concern is getting ???spiked??? while playing defense.

 

???My biggest fear was girls not knowing how to slide properly in them,??? Carruthers said. ???We went over how to slide a whole practice. As long as (players are) not malicious when sliding, I??™m for them.???

 

According to the NFHS release, ???current rules prohibit runners from illegal tactics when sliding, and if sliding is executed correctly, the risk of defensive players being ??

[hglifer]

Geez O Pete!

 

I think softball needs the double bags at first, break away bases at 2nd and 3rd, face masks on the helmets and a RIF 4 ball and as much body armor as they can wear. /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

 

Chicken Little played high school softball didn't he.

 

 

Well, gee, if you want to look at it that way. Let's scrap batting helmets and catchers gear and go by one of the original rules - If you can throw and hit the baserunner with the ball, they are out!

[catsbackr]

I mean, come on, did you guys read this stuff?

 

Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith doesn't like it either.

 

"I'm not a big fan of metal cleats in the high school game," he said. "I wish the IHSA had said no. It's going to cause some serious coaching on our part to teach the kids how to use them properly."

 

Teach them to use shoes? Come on, did anyone teach boys how to use shoes with metal cleats? I don't think so.

Another metal spike issue is that there's no age limitation. Freshmen through seniors are allowed to wear them.

 

Ok, boys wear metal cleats in Middle School, what's the point?

Olson, who is leaving the wearing of spikes up to her players, played college softball and says her transition from molded to metal went without incident. But ??¦

 

"I've known a lot of girls who injured themselves by spiking themselves," she said.

 

Spiking themselves?

???My biggest fear was girls not knowing how to slide properly in them,??? Carruthers said.

 

You slide the same way in metal as you do in molded cleats. You don't slide on the cleats you slide on your butt, thigh and leg.

???One thing I??™ve noticed coming over from baseball is that the girls block bases. You just don??™t do that in baseball,??? Thompson said.

 

There's already a rule about that without possession of the ball.

???It??™s only gonna take a few times before (players) learn (not to block bases). You??™re not purposely trying to spike them, but you go in feet first,??? he said of the proper sliding motion.

 

Like I said, you're not supposed to block the bag anyway.

 

Anyway, I know some of ya'll are really hot for this topic. It just seems like it's much ado about nothing.

 

(Sorry, I keep reading these posts, so...)

 

In the report, Riverdale coach Jeff Breeden said,???It all comes back to the metal cleats. Before the injury, I liked us having them. But if these guys are doing a pop-up slide, they better not pop up. When her cleat hung, it broke the bones instead of rolling the ankle.???

 

Who is teaching these girls how to slide? They're being taught to slide on their cleats? Geez.

[thatsafact]

I dont know why I am responding as I feel Your comments dont even warrant a response. Why dont you email your little comments to Bethany Holley, Cat, Holli Kilcrease , Lindsey Hall, Melissa Folsom, Sabrina Drogos, Kathleen Chase, Chanin Naudin or the hundreds of others across the country. Google "metal spike injuries and softball" to gather other names. Tell them and their parents your cute little remarks because quite honestly I dont think they carry any merritt.

[zeroedge]

I dont know why I am responding as I feel Your comments dont even warrant a response. Why dont you email your little comments to Bethany Holley, Cat, Holli Kilcrease , Lindsey Hall, Melissa Folsom, Sabrina Drogos, Kathleen Chase, Chanin Naudin or the hundreds of others across the country. Google "metal spike injuries and softball" to gather other names. Tell them and their parents your cute little remarks because quite honestly I dont think they carry any merritt.

 

Add another one:

A player in the Chilton County tournament had emergency surgery yesterday after her metal cleats dug into the bag and stuck there. The news is that it tore her foot (tendons) away from her ankle and broke the ankle. She was sliding into third base, the cleat had to be removed from the bag before they could move her. I know this player has played ball a long time and knows how to slide. Just wondering are the injuries due in part to girls not knowing how to slide with the metal on? If so shouldn't those in the know be teaching the players to slide properly BEFORE they start playing in the metal cleats. Just seems like a lot of good players are getting hurt. This girl will probably have problems the rest of her life now, what a shame. Not that accidents will not happen but you know an ounce of prevention..... With all the injuries taking place, teaching proper sliding technique with the new cleats should be mandatory in my opinion.

[redhawkfan81]

Looks to me that the coaches are too lazy to teach the girls the proper way to slide and how to get out of the way of a sliding runner. That would eliminate a lot of the injuries that everyone has been complaining about. It's not that complicated.

[softballer]

Everyone is blowing the whole cleat thing out of proportion. Let the kids play and let the kids choose if they want them or not. Most seem to like them, especially if they have been taught the correct way to slide. It's a waste of time to argue about what they wear on their feet. Accidents and injuries are just a part of the game. So let's just play ball. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />