Masks on Batting Helmets - Don't Be Silly No Matter What Your Age

I know that many parents and even schools still give players the option of a cage or no cage on their batting helmets.

Parents & Players - This is really a brainless option.

My daughter, for the first time IN HER LIFE (she is a sophomore in college now) grabbed a cageless helmet this weekend -- one of the team helmets for players to use (some caged, some not). 1st at bat of the day....2nd pitch....she fouls the ball directly into her face.

Three loose teeth.

Lip gashed internally

Lip looks road rashed externally

Nose displaced

Bruising around mouth, jaw, cheek


It is not worth "seeing the ball a little better" or thinking "nothing will happen if I only do it *this* time."

Batting Helmet AND Cage or don't even step up to that plate. Play it smart - those teeth, that nose, that face has to last a lifetime, and you don't want that lifetime cut short because of a few thin strips of metal that could have saved you from harm!

 

Very wise words.
Thank you for sharing your unfortunate experience. I hope your daughter mends quickly.

 

It can happen to you!

Daughter & I also witnessed this happening while on a recruiting visit @ James Madison 2 years ago to one of their best players! Nasty scene to say the least. She looked at me and said 'I know that I will always have one on when I hit'

Daughter now plays college softball and fouled a ball into her facemask 2 weeks ago. 1st time it has ever happened to her, glad she had it on!

I wish I would have listened when the baseball coach told us infielders to always wear our cup. Found out the hard way! Never played without one after that!

Be safe don't find out the hard way!

 

A long time ago, about two years before HS made it mandatory, we required our HS players to wear them. Every time I see a kid get hit in the face mask it gives me a renewed appreciation for that particular regulation.

I guess some believe they're wiser at the college level.

This past year one of the college slappers in a televised game got hit while wearing a face mask. No damage to what otherwise would have been major facial injury.

 

Its the plane of the pitch and angle of the bat that causes this to hapen in softball and not baseball. As an umpire I see numerous batter's being hit in the face mask every year. Last year in a D3 scrimmage a batter took one off her face. No lost teeth, but a broken nose and busted lip. NFHS made them mandatory quite a number of years ago, but the ladies in college are adults, and the NCAA feels they can make their own choices. Its the same as jewelry in the NCAA.

I feel strongly that any non-adult league or assoc. should require masks, but adults should be allowed the choice!

 

Perhaps you ought to call my daughter then.... I am sure she would be willing to attest to the fact that the choice should not exist for ANY STUDENT.

Two days after I wrote this paper she was back in the ER because of vomiting and persistent headaches and was diagnosed with a Grade 2 Concussion. Her teeth have still not fully tightened up. Her mouth is still bruised. And the absolute worst for her, personally: This weekend she got to ride the pine during the college tournament because she cannot be cleared.

The UNC School system requires ANY scholarshipped athlete to purchase the schools insurance policy for 1400+ a year. Many girls do not even receive that much IN scholarship, so now they pay to play.

That insurance policy will leave my ADULT daughter with about $1300 out of pocket in bills -- what the insurance does not cover and deductible.

If you can require our ADULT children to purchase insurance, then guess what: You can REQUIRE that they wear equipment which will provide them optimum safety.

There should be no "option" in any type of school sport.

 

When players are recruited they are wearing the masks during games. Why allow them to stop?

At the collegiate level coaches are aware, or should be aware, of the danger of getting hit in the face with the ball. Coaches don't have to depend on the NCAA to make rules. University administrators don't have to wait for the coaches.

If coaches can't mandate rules to help ensure the health of their players, at least they could think of it as not losing a player to injury.

Schools that don't have obvious safety rules are, in my opinion, very vulnerable to law suits.

Baseball hasn't always required helmets. Football hasn't always required face masks. Somewhere along the way someone figured it out.

Ignorance is the only reason not to require face masks. The masks don't interfere with the game, they enhance the game.

Facial injuries can last a lifetime. Why risk it?

 

It can happen in baseball also. An incorrect swing, such as is quite predominant in softball, is the main cause. It's more the faulty swings than it is the plane of the pitch.

Put another way, I guess you could say it's more about the skill of the batter.

 

simple rule for me..

If you wanna hit, you wear one on my team.

 

I have to disagree. The mask does interfere with the vision of the batter. A player may get used to the mask, but it does create an interfence with their vision.

All players who reach this level of play are very aware of the risks involved in their sport. While this does happen, it is not normal or frequent enough of an occurance to warrant a mandate at this level of play. The face masks requirement in football was because of the nature of the game facial injuries were common, and a rule was required.



With me it is the same as requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. I feel it should be their choice, and not mandated.

Just my personal opinion