[Sportsandrec] Beep baseball regs

[Jennifer Boylan]

Hi Ashley and Others Interested,
The NBBA rules can be viewed at www.nbba.org/rules.  These are the rules
governing tournament play.  Of course, the adaptations you are making may be
necessary for the group you're working with and I think anything that's
getting people out and moving, improving their mental and physical condition
and building their confidence and skills (which can be translated to other
aspects of life, such as employment) is a great thing.  These are the rules
that govern competitive beepball.

Base-running (straight and with no assistance) is one of the drills we work
on at practice.  It is difficult to run straight to the sound source 100
feet away without much practice, but it's what we must do to get base
running times that will beat out the swift fielding out there.  Usually the
first few steps will bring you close enough to hone in on the sound and plow
directly through the base, making adjustments as you get nearer.  The best
runners can hit the base in under 5 seconds, and you usually have no more
than 6 or 7 seconds at the most to get there before a ball is fielded unless
you can slam the ball out over everyone's heads or hang a fair fly ball up
in the air long enough to get most of the way to the base.  A ball must go
at least 40 feet to be fair, since no fielders will be running into where
the pitcher, catcher and batter are situated to field a ball.  Some runners
take out the pitcher because they've not straightened out their line to the
base by that 20 foot point.  This usually only happens when that sighted
pitcher has turned to watch the flight of the ball and fielders and does not
focus back on the runner in time.  Pitchers have the option of wearing a
catcher's mask and other protective gear usually reserved for catchers
because of their proximity to the home plate; in my experience, most are too
macho to take advantage of this.  In our 2007 World Series, a bat broke and
the jagged barrel imbedded itself in the pitcher's leg, disabling him for
the rest of the tourney.  He left with multiple pins in his leg.  So the
ball, bat and runner can all be hazardous to the pitcher.

Spotters are the sighted in the outfield who are allowed to call out one
zone number where they believe the ball is headed and then are not allowed
any further communication to aid fielders other than "Stop!" when a
collision is imminent or "Down!" when a line-drive is about to hit someone
in the head or face.  If two spotters give a zone number or any spotter adds
any information to the original call, the runner automatically gets his run
as a penalty.  Similarly, the runner may not be coached in any way or he
will be out.
Fielders are allowed unlimited communication, trying not to drown out the
sound of the ball and avoid collisions and interference with each other.  We
say things such as "by me" or "over me" to indicate where the ball is in
relation to ourselves and "coming" to alert others we are in pursuit.

I really hope we can get the Vegas tourney going.  It would be great to have
a regional tournament on this side of the country for a change.  Denver is
the closest team, and now the Arizona Southwest Slammers, so we would love
to compete with qualified blind opponents more than once a year.  Teams must
be registered with the NBBA by March 1 to participate in tournaments; this
is also the deadline for regional tournament info to be in to list on the
NBBA's website.  Past tournament info is up unless updates are in, and those
locations are fairly consistent year to year.

Beepball is co-ed, and players usually range in age from teens to 60+.  At
the competitive level, there are only about 8 female players and we have 3
of them!  We are always hoping to have more youth involved, but haven't had
much success communicating with the schools.
Recruitment is difficult for the reasons we've already stated.  We have
players that attend the local community college who tell every new blindie
they meet about our sport and team.  Same with the Community Blind Center.
We try to get local media coverage.  I have put info out on lists such as
this and a teammate has done the same on the CCB list.  The NBBA's PR
department is trying new ways to get info out.  My co-captain and I are
assembling info to send out to blind centers in California to invite them to
take up the sport, provide players and at least come view a practice or the
World Series to see what it's all about.  We are involving the local Lions
Clubs and have looked for volunteers in the Parks & Rec and city league
softball leagues.  I'm hoping one day to have enough players to have two
teams here to play each other...we have a ways to go there.