Rule changes to high school spring sports coming next year

In Rule 2-65-2, the NFHS Board of Directors agreed that intentional walks into the fast-pitch game can now be requested by the defensive coach or catcher prior to or during the at-bat.

“The Kentucky High School Athletic Association experimented with intentional walks for the 2017 season, and the response from coaches and umpires was overwhelmingly positive,” said Sandy Searcy, NFHS director of sports and staff liaison for softball. “The NFHS questionnaire response from constituents was also very favorable.

There’s no guarantee how the Oregon high school coaches and umpires will react to this addition to Rule 2, but it does seem likely that this will be a favorable change made by the NFHS Board of Directors after a positive response from coaches and umpires elsewhere.

Another one of the decisions involves equipment no longer having to be inspected by the umpire or need for it to be placed outside the dugout/bench before the start of the game. This rule change ensures that the head coach and school administration are now responsible for making sure players are legally and properly equipped.

“Umpires must remain vigilant in identifying illegal or altered equipment throughout the course of the game, and equipment violation penalties will continue to be assessed when discovered,” Searcy said. “However, it is the head coach’s responsibility to verify that his or her players’ equipment is legal.”

School administrations will also need to either approve or issue uniforms for high school track and field/cross country.

The NFHS Board of Directors approved of the uniform revision to Rule 4-3-1 and the revision was one of four made by the NFHS Track and Field Rules Committee.

Also revised was Rule 6-5-11, as this particularly regards to the pole vault competition and the nonmetal crossbar which can now not be less than 14 feet, 8 inches or no more than 14 feet, 10 inches in length. This change was made to help establish a consistent range for the length of the crossbar in pole vault.

Similar to the track and field uniform revision, cross country will follow the requirements of Rules 4-3-1 and 4-3-2, but the NFHS Track and Field Rules Committee developed Rule 8-6-1 to specify the Competitor’s Uniform in Track and Field and Cross Country to avoid any duplicate language between the two rules.

High school baseball will also be preparing for some changes down the road as revisions to rules have been made by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) that’ll be effective in both January 1, 2019 and 2020.

The change to rule 1-5-3 that will require the catcher to wear a chest protector that meets NOCSAE standard at the time of development and will be applied in 2020. This revision is to protect the heart and cardiac silhouette from commotion cordis and it’s a continued effort by the committee to focus on minimizing risk of injury for players. Commotio cordis is the sudden cardiac death following a low-impact trauma to the chest, such as getting hit with a baseball, and the NOCSAE standard has been developed to protect this concern.