Playing by the rules

Region - There are changes on the way. The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA), the administrative body of high school sports, recently voted on 32 rules change proposals; some of the ones ratified will be very noticeable in upcoming seasons, while others are more focused on the inner workings of the MIAA regarding athlete participation requirements.

Some of the biggest changes aff ect softball and basketball. Softball pitchers will have to take a step or two back in their game as the pitcher's mound is being pushed out to 43 feet from home plate from the current 40 feet. This one is sure to get lots of attention. It is probably the biggest rule change of the lot. The proposal was moved to increase safety for softball pitchers. The 43 feet will also be consistent with the distance college pitchers throw from.

Hoop play will look different next season. When mouth guards were mandated a couple of years ago, many players and coaches weren't happy about it. While the intent was well meaning, it proved to be impractical.

The MIAA, in a 10-6 vote, has removed the requirement, and will settle for stating that mouth guards are "highly recommended."

Many cases players were using low-quality mouth guards, not fitting well. Often players could be seen with the mouth guards dangling from their mouth. Also the players often dropped the guards to the floor. Or guards were being removed during breaks in action. All the handling proved to be a very unsanitary practice.

More visible to spectators, though, will be the change from two 16-minute halves to four eight-minute quarters. This rule change, passed 16-0, will allow more flexibility in programs managing players who split time between varsity and junior varsity games. It will probably have coaches working on more of their last-second plays, too, now with twice as many timeexpiring situations.

Sportsmanship is at the core of several rule changes. Current rules require any coach ejected from any game in all sports to serve a twogame suspension. Now players will abide by the same rule. In soccer, any coach who receives four yellow cards in a season will face a one-year suspension.

It's fun to look at some of the proposals that were rejected, too. Looks like the ping of metal bats will continue, much to the dismay of this writer, as a proposal to require wooden bats only was soundly rejected by various sub-committees and ultimately by the board with the final say, 12-3. The basis for the proposal to ban metal bats was primarily based on the faster speed that balls come off the metal bats, reducing reaction time for fielders, increasing the risk of injury.

But it is more than just injury. Baseball wasn't meant to be played with metal bats. I'm in full agreement with the proposal writers that stated, "Frequent football-like scores produced by metal bats have made a mockery of the great game of baseball." The author goes onto call the game "bashball."

Send mail and sports ideas to ronwoodward@charter.net.