Softball Face Masks - Should They Be Mandatory?

Wow you people have issues to sit and judge what a parent does... I was looking into seeing how much one cost and to think that because a child wears a mask we are not teaching fundamentals wow... HOW OLD ARE YOU? Oh yeah and when I was a kid we weren't expected to sit in child seats either... Wow maybe we should just lay babies on the floor board like they used too.. WOW... I am blown away by these comments.

For decades the solution to this problem has been teaching kids to use their gloves. Perhaps next year you would like to wrap the players in bubble wrap and have them hit foam balls. You are doing a terrible disservice to your child by failing to teach them game fundamentals, like catching and proper fielding. Granted there are occasional accidents that happen when a player gets hit by a ball but they are very uncommon. I feel sorry for your children and what they loose out on because you as a parent are scared. Grow up, grown ups and allow your children to play the game.

Good for you!  I concur with all you said.
If a child does not have the courage to risk injury and take the field then they should enter the spelling bee or something more their speed. 
Kids will lose out so much by policies like this.  If you don't fall out of a tree once or twice you will not have respect for the act of climbing the tree.  It is all a part of growing up.  Let your kids grow to be courageous,
smart, skilled and aware.  If the girl got blocked out by the sun... she should have had her glove in front of her face. If she wasn't quick enough to do that or if she wasn't trained properly then she got what she should get. Sure it sucks but in the end she will be a stronger and wiser person for it.

I can just see it now... 10 years down the road we will be contesting childhood sports and all sports for that matter on video screens, each person home in their safe pod behind their controls.  Can't use Wii though because you will be using more than wrists and fingers.  Of course you could make masks mandatory for Wii as well.  Or, maybe a padded pod from which to play.  Yeah, Yeah, that's it... Wii pods... Gonna get right on that one...

There is an organization in Wichita, KS, the Mustangs, and the owner Mark Griggs will not allow any player (other than catcher) to wear a protective face mask unless they have been hit in the head with the ball first. Here is his exact quote to me:

"I understand leaving for our policy on face masks. We do not ban them...we just choose not to play children as a pitcher or infielders if they need a mask to feel safe and able to compete. We wouldn't want a scared child playing in those positions. We allow them to be worn by children that have been hit or have a medical reason to wear
them.....but not because a kid is just scared to get hit."

We left this organization last season but I'm still on a crusade to get the word out about this organization & its owner. He could atleast leave the choce to the players, but you see what type of ego we are dealing with. If anyone has any suggestions on how to accomplish this I would appreciate it. Thank you!

Mark is right. If the girls can't play confidently, then they need to play at a lesser level. We could protect our kids by never letting them go skating, or swimming. Do your kids still wear floaties? Read the batter and don't serve up meat pitches.

what a stupid coach. so he is basicly stating "let the kids get hurt if they want to wear the mask."
i am a high school student who was hit in the face while pitching three weeks ago. i have three fractures and am experiencing horrible side-effects to this day. whether the athlete is "scared" or not is not the question. but if injuries should be prevented before occurance has the opportunity to take place.

I believe it should be mandatory. My daughter is only 8 and plays great but sometimes the reaction is just not fast enough. I learned a lesson 3 weeks ago when she was playing pitcher and a line drive hit her in the nose it broke her nose and fractured her sinus cavety. I do feel she was lucky it could have been alot worse. So all of us parents need to work together for the safety of our children. My daughter and myself do not blame anyone except ourself for not wearing face protection

Interesting question. My 12-year-old daughter is a pitcher and will soon go up to 14U league. We have been discussing the possibility of a face mask, or at least a mouth piece to protect the teeth. The girls will only be bigger and stronger and I have spent a LOT of money on braces. I do NOT think any of this should be mandatory. After all, it is not mandatory for high school baseball, and the boys are hitting the ball even harder than the girls. Why do you never see these in baseball? It may have something to do with a greater societal need to protect the feminine face/looks, but that's a topic for a whole other post. I generally believe in free choice/free will in these matters, and that's the way it should stay when it comes to face protection.

I actually think it is because the girls are simply smarter and want to protect their faces; the boys have more ego that they are dealing with. Also, the pitching motion of softball lends itself to a direct frontal impact, where the baseball motion lends itself to the player being struck in the side/top of the head which means the current options wouldn't protect them. I believe for the pitcher it should be mandatory. The ball comes off the bat just as fast if not faster than it is pitched. Of course there are higher odds that a bater could get hit, but why is it any different than batting helmets? There once was a time they were not required and now people take it as obvious that the player would wear a helmet batting. Keep the kids safe, especially the younger ones, so that they don't get hurt and then so scared that they quit the game early.

On the other hand 43 feet really 38 with a nice push is to close without a mask, if that will not change you mind our travel ball 16 and under pitch lost 8 teeth, 3 surgeries, 80 plus stitches and two permanent scars now wears a mask. My daughter plays third and soon will be playing at college with a mask, she has been hit twice this year. She is now sitting for two games with a concussion from the impact from charging a slapper showing bunt then slapping a line drive. I would not want to know what would have happen without a mask. Pitchers, and corners should be mandatory. just make a list of the pros and cons and you will see for any position it is a no brainier even college and lower MLB teams are making coaches wearing helmets while coaching why not the players,

Well said. I also think pitchers,3rd baseman and 1st baseman should have to wear a mask.Its not about the players scared of the ball its about the players getting stronger and faster.I have seen pitchers with a 55 to 60 mph fastball almost getting their head taken off from a batter hitting the ball back at them at 100 mph.At 38 feet thats not alot of reaction time compared to high school baseball distance.

all good points but i also watched a 10 yr old with a facemask take a ball to the temple because instead of her actually "catching" she relied on her facial protection.. so the old fashion need to "catch" needs to be instilled as much as people stressing on the facemasks. my daughter refuses to wear one since it was her team mate that got hurt, she is a third baseman, when i ask her about it she counters with "brother doesnt, and you didn't when you were my age"

Wait, you're saying that instead of using her glove she opted to use her face?  What an stupid comment.  She didn't have time to react, obviously, because NO ONE would use their face instead of a glove to stop a ball.  The fact that she was hit on the temple and not a direct shot to the face only shows how fast the ball was coming in that she only had time to turn her head. 

A $40 mask is ALWAYS a smarter option than $40000 in reconstructive surgery.

If your daughter is afraid of the ball instead of playing the ball, she is at the wrong level of the game. Top level is not for everyone. My daughter WANTS the ball every pitch.

Do you wear a helmet when you drive your car? It would lower your risk of head injury if you were in an accident. You can't protect everyone from everything.

No, I don't wear a helmet when I drive, but I wear a seat belt.  If I can prevent an injury, then by all means, I'm going to do it.    A mask does not stop my 10 year old daughter from going after the ball or pitching 50 mph.  It gives her the protection she needs to play good softball.  Her team won state this year and placed 7th in the world series out of 27 teams.  If you think we are being over protective, go visit a U10 or U12 World Series and see how many players, pitchers & non pitchers, wear masks and then we can talk.   As a parent, I value my daughters life and saftey more than anything and I will do what I can to protect her.  It disgust me to read comments from people like you who have not seen first hand a player get hit in the head and just make these comments based upon your own big ego.

ha, the pussification of America continues. What about the knees, how many injuries occur when running bases? Idea, knew braces for all, or wait, don't run the bases, come up with some new rule.  Also let me guess, in gym class you child can't play dodgeball cause they can get hurt, o wait, never mind, probably wears a mask.

Girls softball has evolved into a game that needs the protective masks.  Like most athletic pursuits, the athletes have become better and stronger with modern training.  Kids hit the ball harder; pitchers throw the ball faster.  This is similar to the evolution of football, where players did not originally wear even a hard helmet in the 1930s, but now are protected like Iron Man.

I totally agree. Bat technology is WAY different than it used to be just 10 years ago and the balls used now days are as well.
I agree with the evolution of the game idea. Or do the rest of you think we shouldn't wear batting helmets as well? Pro baseball players never used them before, but now do?
Skilled and properly trained athletes "should" be able to move out of the way of a pitch to the head but that doesn't mean we look down upon players for wearing protection that the game has come to require.
I dot understand how people are accepting of batters wearing facemasks (never had those before either) and yet think it's due only to lack or training or lack of courage that you would wear a facemask on the field?
How much has changed on the batting end that makes wearing a mask so muchore necessary than wearing Ike of the field? Far more has changed in this game to threaten fielder than to threaten hitters. Yet there seems to be more of a "big deal" made out of fielders wearing masks in regards to "wussification" or lack of proper training.
Stacie

Seems like we are going backwards on this subject.  It is not a matter of the player being scared because if they are I agree they should not be playing.  It is a matter of better understanding that girls fastpitch softball is much different then even 5 years ago.  They hit harder, Slap more and the bats really allow them to drive the ball.  Third and first and pitchers really need protection.  The corners can literally be 10 feet away from the batter.  Face mask prevent(reduce) serious facial injuries. This is not baseball(league ball) where the infield is bigger with more time to react but fastpitch softball.  Typical jock response by some daddy's.

Buckydp2002 - I agree with you. The game is not the same as it was 5-10 years ago. The math on it shows that a pitcher has as little as 0.251 seconds to protect herself. That's not a lot of time! It's not about being scared, just safe.

Absolutely correct!  My twelve year old is not afraid of the ball.  She's a talented pitcher and third baseman.  She wants to wear a mask because she is smart enough to realize there is next to zero reaction time on some plays.  She's a pretty young lady who doesn't want to be hurt, disfigured, or worse.  She wears a mask...and it's her choice.

It's not just boys versus girls (although obviously that some of it). It's also physics. f=ma . The balls is hit harder and faster by the boys (A), but the mass of the ball is much more for the girls, and hence for the force is about the same. Coupled this with the almost insane distances the girls (3rd/first/pitcher) play from in the case of a fake bunt/swing away, the face guards seem like a good form of insurance.