IHSBCA sends arm care, other IHSAA by-law proposals on to athletic administrators

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association (IHSBCA) members have been surveyed on five proposals that have been passed on to the Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (IIAAA), which will then send them on to be considered to the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) at its November executive committee meeting.

The first two proposals involve arm care, the third lengthening the season, the fourth adding summer baseball activity days and the fifth designating a person to track pitch counts during the state tournament series.

The IHSBCA’s proposed change to by-law 15-2.4 states: “During the School Year Out-of-Season, a student who participates in the Team Sport of baseball may throw a baseball as a part of a conditioning program (beginning M – WK26).”

“We definitely see throwing as part of conditioning,” says IHSBCA executive director Brian Abbott. “It’s hard to simulate throwing in baseball without a baseball.

“Our membership supports our proposals.”

According to the IHSBCA, which has been working with IHSAA assistant commissioner for baseball Robert Faulkens (who says he will have to see the IHSBCA findings before he comments publicly on the proposals), the rationale for the proposal is that “throwing a baseball generally involves a 15 to 20-minute session with a baseball so it is not a huge time commitment. The flexibility of the conditioning program is needed due to the fact a player needs to throw on multiple days.”

The IHSBCA has been a strong advocate for an arm care program since the pitch count limitations (1 to 35 pitches requires 0 days rest; 36 to 60 requires 1 day; 61 to 80 requires 2 days; 81 to 100 requires 3 days; and 101 to 120 requires 4 days) were put in place.

In appealing to its members, the IHSBCA says “preferably, this arm care proposal can be started immediately in preparation for the upcoming 2020 season. Track runners train their legs as a part of conditioning, the arm has to be conditioned in a similar fashion. In order to train the arm, just as the legs, a plan of progression and consistency is imperative for overall health of these muscle groups.

“As it currently reads, Indiana high school baseball players are allowed to throw a baseball two times per week preceding the beginning of the season. At which time these players are now allowed, and almost have to be in order to be ready for the season, to throw six times per week. The progression of going from two days to six days without a proper build up in between is not a healthy progression for an arm.

“This stage of arm care will NOT include bullpens. We are looking to train and prepare the arm

as a track runner trains and prepares their legs.

“Bullpens and competitive bullpens will only take place during the participation portion of the Limited Contact sessions currently allowed by the IHSAA.

“By allowing arm care to be a part of conditioning there are no additional times, dates, etc. … to supervise. The only supervision for school administration is during the Limited Contact sessions.”

For by-law 15-2.5, this is the changed being proposed by the IHSBCA: “Beginning on M – WK33 and continuing to M – WK37 (official practice starting date), the Team Sport of baseball will be allowed 1 additional day per week (2-hour max.) for the specific purpose of throwing bullpens … bullpens are defined as a pitcher, catcher, and the use of a pitching mound (s). No other baseball activities will be performed during this additional 1 day/week time period.”

Abbott notes that schools with a large number of pitchers will have difficulty in getting in all the pitches and have any time left over for other training.

“Some schools have 60 to 70 kids trying out,” says Abbott. “It takes a lot of their time.  That’s all you get done for two hours.

“We next extra time. Proposal No. 2 adds another dimension with more opportunities for pre-season bullpens.

“In my mind, (the arm care proposals) are needed, but we’re only one piece of the puzzle.”

In getting pitchers ready for the season, coaches generally like to work up to at least 60 pitches by opening day and this tends to start with about 15 pitches on Week 1, 30 on Week 2 and so on.

Abbott says while the IHSAA will consider proposals in November, action is not expected until it meets in May after the IHSBCA is allowed to formally present its proposals, meaning changes would go into effect in 2020-21.

Though the IHSBCA would like to speed up that timetable for arm care.

“Pitch count was put in immediately because it was agreed upon by all parties,” says Abbott. “We would love arm care to go in place after Christmas, but we have no control over that.”

The IHSBCA requests that the length of the baseball season be extended by one week.

Abbott says that in the fall of 2018, Goshen High School athletic director and IIAAA Proposals chairman Larry Kissinger asked the IHSBCA and Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association (which covers softball) to consider options for length of season and games played.

Kissinger shared that 77 percent of coaches did not want a reduction in games. The IHSBCA has been working with the IIAAA on options. One way to continue to play 28 games of 26 games plus a tournament was by adding another week to the season.

Abbott notes that the softball season is 11 weeks and baseball is shorter. Spring breaks — in some districts two weeks long and some systems imposing mandatory time off — are cutting the compacted season. This does not happen with football in the fall or basketball in the winter.

In discussions with Randy Lewandowski, president and general manager of the Indianapolis Indians, Abbott learned that the minor league team prefers having the tournament off Father’s Day weekend as those are lucrative dates for the club at Victory Field.

The proposed timetable (with length of each season to the start of sectional play:

Current Season Length:

Football (1A-4A): 11 weeks plus 4 days.

Football (5A-6A): 12 weeks plus 4 days.

Boys Basketball: 16 weeks plus 1 day.

Softball: 11 weeks.

Baseball: 10 weeks plus 1 or 2 days (depending on sectional start date).

Proposed Season Length:

Baseball: 11 weeks (sectional tournament starts on Memorial Day and concludes the following Saturday; the 4-week tourney finishes the weekend after Father’s Day).

In 2021, Memorial Day is May 31, Father’s Day June 20 so that would make June 25-26 the dates for the State Finals.

In 2022, Memorial Day is May 30, Father’s Day June 19 and the proposed State Finals dates June 24-25.

For 2023, those dates are May 29, June 18 and June 23-24.

For 2024, they are May 27, June 16 and June 21-22.

IHSBCA’s fourth proposal states: “A School, and players from the School’s baseball program, may participate in Baseball Activities under the following standards:

“a. Schools may sponsor up to Ten (10) Baseball Activity Days (a day when a School’s baseball coaching staff coaches Two (2) or more players from the School’s baseball team engaged in Baseball Activities) during the Summer.

“b. A School’s Baseball Activity Days may include up to Four (4) Baseball Competition Days (a day when a School’s baseball coaching staff takes Two (2) or more players from a School’s baseball team to either Practice with or compete against One (1) or more players from another School or program).

“c. Prior to the first day of Summer, a School’s baseball coaching staff must designate to the School’s athletic director or the principal the specific Baseball Activity Days and the Baseball Competition Days in which the baseball program plans to participate.”

The IHSBCA’s rationale: “The IHSAA is asking all coaches associations to submit guidelines for summer participation.

“In most cases, travel baseball and non-school leagues dominate the summer environment for our sport; however, in the cases where the high school coach(es) is/are still running an in-house summer program these guidelines will serve as a basis for participation.”

In its fifth proposal, the IHSBCA makes this request: “that each tournament host site (sectional through State Finals) have a person designed to track the pitch count for both teams in each scheduled contest.

“This position will keep written or digital records and communicate with the coaches and umpires each inning to confirm pitch counts for both teams.

“This position will also mandate (through the No. 1 umpire/crew chief) the removal of a pitcher once their pitch count limit has been exhausted.

“The head coach will certify the availability of each pitcher prior to the start of each tournament level; records will be kept throughout the tournament to track pitch counts; ensure proper rest is observed; and, at no time, allow an ineligible pitcher to enter the game or remain in the game.

“These records will be available to member school head coaches, athletic directors, principals, and IHSAA personnel upon request.”

Note: Indiana’s American Legion state tournament has had a person assigned to pitch counts for years. The total is posted in the press box window at the end of each inning.

The IHSAA pitch count rule has meant that teams have had to develop more pitchers and share the load.

Steve Stutsman, veteran head coach at Elkhart Central High School, says the Top 10 pitchers in school history have more than 100 innings per season and the leaders 85 was the norm for the leaders a decade ago.

“Weather is also a consideration,” says Stutsman. “It’s long been a rule at Central that pitchers have to wear long sleeves until it’s 70 degrees.”

Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association (IHSBCA) members have been surveyed on five proposals that have been passed on to the Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (IIAAA), which will then send them on to be considered to the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) at its November executive committee meeting. (Steve Krah Photo)

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IHSBCA, IHSAA, IIAAA join forces on baseball arm care

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

In an effort to promote throwing and arm health, the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association is joining forces with the Indiana High School Athletic Association and Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association to adopt an arm care/throwing program.

“We’re looking to educate our coaches so they can, in turn, educate their principals and athletic directors,” says IHSBCA executive director Brian Abbott. “We are working with the IHSAA and IIAAA on these proposals. We want it to be a collective effort and work within the confines of the process.”

The IHSBCA has submitted a proposal that would allow throwing under the supervision of a high school coach in preparation for the upcoming season. This is in addition to two hours, two days a week allowed during certain periods under the limited contact rules.

“Arm care is a part of conditioning,” says Abbott. “The only way to condition your arm to throw is to throw.”

Noting that an engine has to warm up to function in cold weather, the arm needs time to be ready for the demands of the baseball season.

“Bad things happen when you try to go too quick,” says Abbott. “We have to have a progression.  “We’re fine with the limited contact. We just need to opportunity for our players, especially pitchers and catchers, to throw.”

The IHSBCA proposal has been submitted twice — last time on July 25, 2018 by a principal and it was requested it be considered an emergency by-law. It is Abbott’s understanding that emergency by-laws can be submitted for consideration at any time outside of the team sports proposal timeline/process.

The IHSBCA would like to amend the current rule 15-2.4 (Conditioning Program) to include the following wording:

“During the School Year Out-of-Season, a student who participates in the Team Sport of baseball may participate in an arm care/throwing program that begins on M-WK 30 and continues to the official start of practice (M-WK 37). This program will involve, but not be limited to: bullpens w/ a catcher; maintenance work (bands, med. balls, etc.); partner grip work; long toss; velocity training; and general throwing mechanics.”

Abbott offers the rationale for the amendment.

“We feel that many of the arm care/throwing programs need to be under the supervision of coaches as they are the ones with the knowledge of the material and the ones with access to the school facilities,” says Abbott. “This allows multi-sport athletes to condition their arm while playing another sport (i.e. a pitcher who is playing basketball) and allows flexibility to schedule the times to do that.”

The IHSBCA sees the arm care / throwing program as best suited for conditioning and not the “2-hour” activities.

“They made need to be performed several times a week in different phases and don’t need the time blocks granted under the Limited Contact Program.” says Abbott. “In addition, this allows the high school coach to stay relevant with his athletes and keeps the athlete from paying additional dollars to get advice, promises and techniques that may not be sound.

“Arm care is a process that involves awareness, rest, and specific throwing guidelines/programs to follow in order to facilitate the safety of our young players,” says Abbott. “While most authorities on the matter realize the issue may occur at a younger age than high school, we recognize it is still our responsibility as an association to train our coaches and do all we can when an athlete is in our care.

“If we don’t do this ‘in-house’ then some outside ‘expert’ will be implementing a program that could be detrimental to our athletes.”

In a related matter, the IIAAA sent a survey to IHSAA member schools in the fall 2017 about the reduction in the number of contests for baseball and softball.

Larry Kissinger, IIAAA member and Goshen High School athletic director, shared survey results.

Eighty percent of IIAAA members responded and it was found that 67 percent of Indiana high school AD’s favored baseball and softball reducing to 24-25 contests each spring, 12 percent indicated 26-27 contests. Current IHSAA rules allow for 28 games with no tournament or 26 games with a tournament for both baseball and softball.

Abbott and Kissinger devised a survey for IHSBCA members to see if the baseball coaches were interested in a games reduction. 77 percent of the schools (248 total) responded that they were not interested in reducing the number of games.

An additional part of the survey was to assess if the new pitch count rules in 2018 caused schools to reduce games.

79 percent of the schools were unaffected by the pitch count rule at the freshmen/C-team level; 79 percent were unaffected at the JV level; and 90 percent were unaffected at the Varsity level.

As a part of the games survey, coaches also shared their general thoughts on issues that surround high school baseball.

The following points were shared multiple times by the IHSBCA member coaches:

• Schools and athletic directors that want to reduce games can currently do so on a school by school basis. There is no need to mandate a games reduction when the flexibility already exists to do so.

• If schools are concerned about student-athletes playing too many games on school nights/being out too late, then the IHSBCA can encourage schools to play mid-week games closer to home and schedule more games on Fridays and Saturdays. These dates are currently being underutilized.

• In response to the IIAAA comment about ‘stress on pitching’, the IHSBCA mentioned that our Arm Care proposal would help alleviate that concern.  In terms of the IIAAA concern about limited practice time, the IHSBCA has suggested an additional week be added to the length of the season for practice and game dates.

• Several coaches would like to see our game more respected. Indiana produces great high school players and we have coaches who do an outstanding job teaching the sport. If the IHSAA wants our coaches to coach, then we need policies that support our coaches having contact with the players (both skill-based and conditioning wise). More contact with the high school coach means less involvement with all of the travel organizations in the off-season.

• Coaches believe we should play more games to promote our sport. An extra week at the end of the season would allow more opportunities to play games and reward the hard work our coaches and players put in to preparing for the season.

• It is time for our sectional tournament to be spread over a 7-10 day time period to promote arm care, accommodate pitch count, and allow for the best quality of play. While this is not a well-received idea, it is the right thing to do with graduations, travel, and for promoting our sport.

In closing, Abbott mentioned that, “the IHSBCA favors policies that promote the needs of each individual sport. We fully support the IHSAA guidelines, but also realize each sport may have specific needs independent of those guidelines. Arm Care fits into that category for baseball and that is why we are promoting that concept.”

In an effort to promote throwing and arm health, the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association is joining forces with the Indiana High School Athletic Association and Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association to adopt an arm care/throwing program.