Softball Helmet Face Guards Can't Mask Inequality
By Saya Fujii
By Saya Fujii
In the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school, I switched from playing baseball to softball, and surprisingly, one of the toughest challenges was adapting to that cage on my helmet. I thought it made no sense that it was required in softball, and I could only assume that it was because of the general view that girls need to be protected and boys should “tough it out.”
In softball through all levels until college, face masks on helmets are required while it is not in baseball at any level. At the high school level, softball pitchers have a lower velocity than baseball pitchers even while softball pitchers start much closer.
I started playing baseball at 9 years old up until the summer into my sophomore year of high school, when I switched to softball. For baseball, I would wear a helmet with the C-flap (a short extension on the side of the helmet facing the pitcher) which is now very common in youth baseball and in the MLB. This is a lot more comfortable and does not interfere with vision, unlike the cage on the helmet. It’s also unreasonable that fastpitch softball rules require the cage and baseball does not, because from my experience softball is no more dangerous than baseball. I haven’t gotten hit in the head by a pitch in baseball or softball, and it’s rare that I see it happen to others in either sport. From what I’ve seen, the pitching speed in baseball is still faster than softball despite the distance, and getting hit with a baseball hurts more and does more damage because it is smaller.
The average velocity for a 16 year old softball pitcher is 51-55 mph, and the average for a 16 year old baseball pitcher is about 75 mph. The pitching mound for softball is 43 feet away while for baseball it is 60 feet away. Even though baseball’s mound is further, the speed is still faster than softball while accounting for the distance. This means that at the high school level, the current rule regarding helmets makes no sense and should be changed; whether that be requiring cages for both sports or not requiring it. I think that it would be a little ridiculous to start requiring cages for baseball and softball, and the league should just get rid of the rule for softball because getting hit in the face at this level is rare. Either way, it should be equal for the two sports because I feel that there is a little bit of sexism involved in this ruling.
Because the pitching speed in baseball relative to the distance is still faster than the pitching speed in softball, it makes no sense that helmet cages are required only in softball.
In softball through all levels until college, face masks on helmets are required while it is not in baseball at any level. At the high school level, softball pitchers have a lower velocity than baseball pitchers even while softball pitchers start much closer.
I started playing baseball at 9 years old up until the summer into my sophomore year of high school, when I switched to softball. For baseball, I would wear a helmet with the C-flap (a short extension on the side of the helmet facing the pitcher) which is now very common in youth baseball and in the MLB. This is a lot more comfortable and does not interfere with vision, unlike the cage on the helmet. It’s also unreasonable that fastpitch softball rules require the cage and baseball does not, because from my experience softball is no more dangerous than baseball. I haven’t gotten hit in the head by a pitch in baseball or softball, and it’s rare that I see it happen to others in either sport. From what I’ve seen, the pitching speed in baseball is still faster than softball despite the distance, and getting hit with a baseball hurts more and does more damage because it is smaller.
The average velocity for a 16 year old softball pitcher is 51-55 mph, and the average for a 16 year old baseball pitcher is about 75 mph. The pitching mound for softball is 43 feet away while for baseball it is 60 feet away. Even though baseball’s mound is further, the speed is still faster than softball while accounting for the distance. This means that at the high school level, the current rule regarding helmets makes no sense and should be changed; whether that be requiring cages for both sports or not requiring it. I think that it would be a little ridiculous to start requiring cages for baseball and softball, and the league should just get rid of the rule for softball because getting hit in the face at this level is rare. Either way, it should be equal for the two sports because I feel that there is a little bit of sexism involved in this ruling.
Because the pitching speed in baseball relative to the distance is still faster than the pitching speed in softball, it makes no sense that helmet cages are required only in softball.