INDIANAPOLIS, Ind - The NCAA will be developing its own approved bat list that will replace the ASA Non-Approved Bat List for the purposes of the NCAA game. This will be effective January 1, 2011, and will be used for 2011 NCAA competition.
In correspondence sent to manufacturers October 1 from Ken Eriksen, chair of the NCAA Softball Rules Committee, the NCAA has asked manufacturers to provide names of bat models for possible inclusion on the new NCAA approved bat list. Bat models can be added to the list after the initial submission “which will allow time for your company to be confident that each model is in compliance with the less than 98 mph exit speed standard and appropriate for the college game.” The listing will be updated as frequently as necessary.
The letter goes on to state: “The NCAA Softball Rules Committee was very disappointed with lab compliance test results from the 2010 postseason. Institutions that had a bat(s) that failed have been notified. Failed bats included team-purchased and student-athlete-purchased bats, program bats, composite bats, alloy bats, older and new model bats, and the bats were from across all three divisions.”
The letter also states that in 2011, mandatory barrel compression testing (BCT) will be conducted at select in-season tournaments, as well as at postseason sites for all three divisions. “When a bat fails BCT, the model could end up being removed from the NCAA Approved Softball Bat List.”
NCAA 2011 Softball Bat Compliance program outline
2011 NCAA Approved Bat List
New Era Diamond Girls Fast Pitch Softball
