MINUTES OF THE NATIONAL FASTPITCH COACHES ASSOCIATION DIVISION III CAUCUS. December 4-5, 2014; Bally s, Las Vegas, Nev.

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1 MINUTES OF THE NATIONAL FASTPITCH COACHES ASSOCIATION DIVISION III CAUCUS December 4-5, 2014; Bally s, Las Vegas, Nev. NFCA Division III representative and Eastern Connecticut State University head coach Diana Pepin brought the meeting to order at 8:34 a.m., welcoming the group and starting a 10- minute introduction period of coaches in their respective region. Ms. Pepin stated that she is the group s vehicle to upgrade Division III, so please call or her with any questions, comments and concerns. 1. HCC. Ms. Pepin said there is interest in starting regular conference calls (monthly or bimonthly) between one member from each conference and someone representing independent schools to discuss issues facing Division III. Kris Herman (Williams College), Cheryl Milligan (Tufts), Leslie Huntington (Wisconsin- Eau Claire) and Janae Shirley (East Texas Baptist) comprise the subcommittee formulating a plan for that group. 2. NFCA Hall of Fame Banquet. Ms. Pepin congratulated Cortland s Julie Lenhart on her Hall of Fame induction and stressed the need to attend the banquet to see those who came before you and experience a fun night. She asked all Hall of Fame members in attendance stand to be recognized. 3. Committee reports. a. NFCA Top 25. Chair George Wares (Central College) said the committee does its best to be diligent, but sometimes will miss ranking deserving teams despite its best efforts. It is important to let a member of the ranking committee know if you think your team is being left out. i. Regional reps 1. Atlantic: Keith Parr (Christopher Newport) 2. Central: Nicole Loudin (John Carroll) 3. East: Dale Martin (Manhattanville) 4. Great Lakes: Kris Kistler (Augustana) 5. Midwest: Mr. Wares 6. New England: Ms. Pepin 7. Northeast: Ms. Lenhart 8. West: Ms. Shirley b. NFCA All- American. Ms. Milligan, that committee s chair, said using a Google Doc that all the members of the committee can see updated in real time was helpful during the selection call. She stressed that the committee can only work with the regional teams it has been provided (first team All- Region players advance to consideration for All- America status). Please contact your respective regional rep if you

2 want to be on the subcommittee choosing the All- Region squad and let us know of people who are great players. i. Regional reps 1. Atlantic: Brandon Elliott (Virginia Wesleyan) 2. Central: Tim Syrek (Calvin) 3. East: Amy Weaver (Messiah) 4. Great Lakes: Ms. Huntington 5. Midwest: Mr. Wares 6. New England: Ms. Milligan 7. Northeast: Marie Curran (Buffalo State) 8. West: Ms. Shirley c. NFCA Hall of Fame. Deb Pallozzi (Ithaca) said keep nominating qualified individuals from Division III. d. NCAA Rules. Ms. Lenhart explained that the committee has monthly calls. There hasn t been much conclusive data on the experimental ball used during the fall season. The impact is less severe and there is less damage to bats due to temperature changes. The thought is that ball may change. 4. NFCA Leadoff Classic. Three date ranges were presented with the idea of choosing a date for the 2016 event at the South Commons Complex in Columbus, Ga. While no decision was made as intended at the caucus, ultimately it was decided that the dates will be March 11-14, Invitations will be sent out in early January National Training Center. Alison Strange of PFX Athletics, which puts on The Spring Games at the National Training Center in Clermont, Fla., each year, made a presentation about their offerings, as coaches consider sites for their spring trips. i. A range of dates are available to fit your team s schedule ii. Online registration iii. New scheduling program will allow more options iv. Discounted activities and events are available to participating teams v. Contact NFCA Division III liaison Dave Hines (dave@nfca.org) if you want an PDF of her presentation. 6. NCAA Rules. Outgoing NCAA Secretary- Rules Editor Dee Abrahamson received a standing ovation for her service prior to her report. Vickie Van Kleeck (currently in her final season as coach at Ferrum) will take over on Sept. 1. a. Deadline reminders. i. Padding strongly suggested for 2015, required by 2016 for cement, brick and wood backstops. ii. Outfield fence. Four- foot high close institutional fences must be renovated by the 2017 season. All renovations to any height

3 fence after 2016 must be six feet high, on lines and in center. b. New rules. No new rules, but you can send in rule proposals as you think of them (decisions on new rules in June 2016). c. Bat list. New bat list has 12 additions, four deletions and nine strikes based on 2014 testing. d. Barrel Compression Testing (BCT). Watch the online video on SUP.arbitersports.com when it is posted in January. Contact Ms. Abrahamson with suggestions for in- season tournaments for BCT. Postseason testing will remain the same. i. Ball. Known quantifiable characteristics of experimental ball are reduction in impact severity, temperature stability, increase in fielder reaction time and reduced speed and distance. Field testing varied, but in general didn t experience much difference from the current ball, except on outfield fly balls, which seemed to take off at contact then die. The jury is out on the ball. Changes wouldn t happen before 2017, with the decision announced in June ii. Helmets. No highly- reflective, mirror- type silver, gold or bronze ones will be permitted. iii. More on BCT. Testing is required at all but two ASA national tournaments. Large tournaments are logically challenging, so can you help? testing results. a. Division I i. 960 (in) and 1,792 (post) for 2,752 total with 20 failures. b. Division II i. 1,612 (in) and 1,273 (post) for 2,885 total with 18 failures. c. Division III i. 1,422 (in) 1,342 (post) for 2,764 total with 15 failures. d. Overall, there were 8,401 bats tested with 53 failures. e. Excluding the untestable bats and those that broke during setup, the results from Washington State University s Sport Science Lab were: i. Two expected to pass, passed; five expected to fail, failed; six unexpected failures with BBS of 98.1, 99.8, 100.3, 100.7, and ii. Eleven failures. All were postseason bats from the four major manufacturers across the three NCAA divisions. Concerning, because 2013 produced no surprise

4 results and 2011 and 2012 produced just one each. e. Links. Ten players are listed in the starting lineup. Two players share a single spot in the batting order (links). i. Either link may occupy that spot when on offense, at any time for any number of times. ii. Nine of the 10 players must play defense. The links are linked just on offense. iii. Movement in and out of the defensive lineup by any of the 10 players is not a substitution. iv. All other rules regarding participation, re- entry and substitution apply. v. Additional information posted in Using the Links PowerPoint on SUP.arbitersports.com. vi. Advantages of DP/Flex, which has been an element of the game for 20 years, are it limits your opponent to one re- entry for the DP on offense and one for the Flex on defense. vii. Advantages of Links are that smaller roster teams or those with less scholarship money avoid having to use multiple substitutes once the DP or Flex has used her re- entry for the other; they allow you to sub/re- enter for both links, not just once for DP; they allow two players to participate more fully in the game than DP/Flex players do; and it offers simplicity. 7. NCAA Umpires Report. National Coordinator Donna Vavrinec also thanked Ms. Abrahamson for her service to the game of softball. She said she is continuing to work to get the quality of umpires as close to perfect as it can be, and great strides have been seen in umpire development, mutual respect and professionalism. Ms. Vavrinec said to contact her if you have an issue or question. In answering a question about female umpires, Ms. Vavrinec said anytime they see one, they try to get her a mentor and are always trying to get more female umpires working games. 8. NCAA Interpretations. Maureen Harty, the NCAA s liaison with the NFCA, said coaches can submit a request online to get written interpretation of rules from the NCAA. Typically, the school s compliance officer handles it, but sometimes the institution s conference office is involved in that process. There is also a phone number to call when a more immediate response is needed. 9. Contest reduction. Discussion of 10 percent reduction of games (from 40 to 36) proposed by Old Dominion, Centennial and Midwest conferences raised several concerns. Ms. Harty said there was an average of 34.9 games played in Division III softball in 2014, though the number could be low, based on games able to be played due to weather rather than the total number of games actually scheduled.

5 a. Coaches in attendance from the three conferences said they didn t support the proposal and felt blind- sided by the move. b. Reduction of non- conference game ability c. Women s soccer, volleyball and softball expressed Title IX issues could arise if the schedules are reduced. d. The NCAA President s Council could decide to make no change, amend the number of games or withdraw support, leaving the three conferences to decide if they d like to withdraw the proposal, amend or stick with it. e. Exemptions would not change under the proposal. 10. On- campus tryouts. Modeled after Division II, which allows one on- campus tryout per perspective student- athlete (PSA) with a copy of a medical exam in the past six months. Process would begin the opening day of PSA s junior year. 11. Ineligible student- athletes. Win- loss percentage calculated based on games played while student- athlete was eligible. Strength of schedule adjusted accordingly. Only for regular season. 12. Proposal to watch. NCAA men s and women s soccer seeking to have one exhibition game exempted from overall number. 13. Division I discussion. May eliminate fall recruiting period and talking about when official visits should occur and pushing season back a week (an idea the ESPN contract for Women s College World Series stands in way of right now). 14. NCAA Championships. Jan Gentry, NCAA assistant director of championships, provided an update on Division III softball. a. Review of 2014 championship hosted by the University of Texas- Tyler at Suddenlink Field, with congratulations to repeat champion Tufts University and runner- up Salisbury University. b. Key dates. i. Tournament selection is Sunday, May 3. ii. Regionals are May iii. Super Regionals are May iv. Championship will be May at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Va., hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the city of Salem. v. Tournament format. The 2015 tournament will include 62 teams (42 in Pool A, two in Pool B and 18 in Pool C). vi. Sports sponsorship. There are 405 institutions that sponsor Division III softball and are eligible for the championship. Based on the 1:6.5 Division III team sport access ratio, the field will also be 62 teams for the 2016 championship. vii. Future dates and sites.

6 tournament. Selections on May 8, with regionals on May 13-15, Super Regionals on May and the championship round on May at Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Va tournament. Selections on May 7, with regionals on May 12-14, Super Regionals on May and the championship round on May at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla tournament. Selections on May 6, with regionals on May 11-13, Super Regionals on May and the championship round on May at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla. c. Division III Championship Committee. i. Approved format for three- team regionals that requires the advancing team to win a minimum of three contests. ii. Approved regional alignment changes (effective ). iii. Approved budget reductions (effective ). iv. Reduced travel party size by 10 percent for team sports, meaning squads can dress 20 and be reimbursed for as many as 23 in travel party. v. Reduced per diem by $5 (to $90). vi. Eliminated per diem provided to host institutions. vii. Eliminated host honorarium for non- predetermined sites. viii. Proposed for a minimum of three- day window between selection announcement and first date of travel. ix. Each sport region will rank 15 percent of teams, with a minimum of six (effective ). x. Schedules for 2015 are due by January 16 in the score- reporting database. If you don t know your opponent, list the date and TBA. xi. Southern Athletic Association has an AQ effective d. NCAA Softball Committee meeting. June in Indianapolis. If you have issues that you would like the committee to discuss, please forward your request in writing to Ms. Gentry (jgentry@ncaa.org) by June 12. e. In- Region Competition Requirements. Effective for the academic year, in- region competition will be determined based on the following: i. Any contest against a school within an institution s defined membership region (NCAA Bylaw ); ii. Any contest against a school within an institution s established sports region; iii. All contests against conference opponents; iv. All contests against institutions within a 500- mile radius (increased from 200- mile radius);

7 v. Contests against institutions in any year of the provisional or reclassifying process into Division III (year 1, 2, 3 or 4). vi. For sports with NCAA championships in the spring, institutions may exempt out- of- region contests conducted during one institutional vacation period, such as spring break. Postseason competition may not be used to meet the 70 percent in- region requirement. f. Regional alignment updates for The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference goes from multi- region to East, the American Southwest Conference goes from multi- region to West, the Centennial Conference goes from East to Atlantic, the Landmark Conference goes from multi- region to Atlantic, the North Eastern Athletic Conference goes from multi- region to Northeast, the Skyline Conference goes from Atlantic to Northeast, the Southern Athletic Association goes from multi- region to Atlantic and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference goes from multi- region to West. Finlandia University was moved from the Central to Great Lakes for Division III mentoring program. Coaches with five years experience were asked to sign up and serve as mentors, while coaches with less than five years experience were encouraged to participate as mentees. Ms. Pepin will pair people up. 16. Adjournment. The first day of the caucus adjourned at 11:08 a.m. 17. Mock ranking session. The optional second day of the caucus was used for a mock ranking exercise led by Ms. Gentry and Robin Baker (Wisconsin- Eau Claire), the chair of the NCAA Division III Committee. Groups set in regional advisory committees to see the process first hand from 8:05-9 a.m. Action Items: Let a member of the NFCA Top 25 committee know if you feel your team is not being represented. Contact your respective regional rep if you want to be on the subcommittee choosing the NFCA All- Region squad. Keep nominating qualified Division III individuals for the NFCA Hall of Fame. Contact Ms. Abrahamson with suggestions for in- season tournaments for BCT. Contact Ms. Vavrinec if you have an umpire question or issue. Fill out the NCAA s online form (or use the phone number) if you need a written rules interpretation. Contact Ms. Gentry by June 12 if you have issues you d like discussed by the NCAA Softball Committee at its meeting.