If there are two things certain about change, it’s that change is going to happen, and everyone is going to have an opinion on the matter.

It comes as no surprise, then, that area softball coaches have something to say about the prospect of slow-pitch softball going the way of the dodo.

Beginning this fall, what used to be a five-classification sport has now been reduced. Instead of Classes 1-4A and Class 5-6A, there is simply Class I, Class II and Class III. In terms of our coverage area, Clarkdale, Enterprise, Newton, Union and Philadelphia — all Class 2A teams in every other sport — share Class I with some single-A schools. Newton County, Northeast Lauderdale, West Lauderdale and Quitman, which are 4A schools in all other sports, play in Class II along with Choctaw Central, Kemper County and Southeast Lauderdale, which are 3A schools in other sports. Neshoba Central and Meridian share Class III with other 5A and 6A schools.

Doing this in the short-term makes sense. Not as many schools play slow-pitch as they do fast-pitch in the spring, so making the sport have less classifications like soccer (which combines Classes 1-3A) isn’t at all surprising. The difference, of course, is soccer is a growing sport, whereas slow-pitch… isn’t.

Several local softball coaches see the reduced number of classifications as more than just a short-term practicality. They see it as the beginning of the end for the sport entirely to make way for volleyball, a sport in which girls can earn college scholarships.

“I think it’s a sign,” Southeast Lauderdale coach Chris Harper said. “I hate to see that. If you look across the state at how many kids participate versus how many play volleyball, there’s a lot more participation for girls (in slow-pitch).”

Harper further argues the chance for a select few more girls to get volleyball scholarships isn’t a good enough reason alone to get rid of slow-pitch.

“How many girls actually go on to play softball or volleyball in college?” Harper said. “If you want to play volleyball, you can, I just don’t know if I agree with doing away with (slow-pitch) because of the amount of kids you have playing.”

Neshoba Central’s Trae Embry agrees. Based on the number of schools currently playing slow-pitch softball, Embry estimates approximately 1,500 girls would have a fall sport taken away from them if slow-pitch were one day eliminated. For Embry, slow-pitch not having college scholarship opportunities isn’t the point — it’s giving girls an option for a fall activity.

“They would eliminate something that is important to a lot of kids,” Embry said. “I have kids that participate in slow-pitch but not fast-pitch, and vice versa. It’s a sport for kids to participate in, and it gives them the opportunity to work on defense and be in game situations year round.”

While some might argue girls could simply play volleyball if slow-pitch is dropped, Harper said it may not be that simple.

“Slow-pitch girls come in all shapes and sizes,” Harper explained. “It’s not a must for you to be tall to be good — not that it is in volleyball (either), but if you look at your good volleyball teams at the high school level, they have some basketball-type kids.”

Not all softball coaches would protest if slow-pitch is eliminated. West Lauderdale coach Jessie Kennedy said she enjoys slow-pitch and its opportunity to have girls use defensive fundamentals in live games. However, she understands the push for it to go.

“Us and Oklahoma are the only two states that play it,” Kennedy said. “I feel it’s time to phase it out and phase in a sport they can earn a scholarship in — most likely volleyball, but archery would also be a good one.”

Going into this season, I was firmly on the side of letting the sport die and integrating volleyball. Ultimately, I do think that will happen. It’s difficult to ignore, however, Harper and Embry’s points. You cannot simply say every girl who plays slow-pitch can just transition to volleyball and not miss a fall activity. I suspect what will happen is fast-pitch coaches will at least encourage their girls to participate in cross country, another fall sport, in order to stay in shape, but not every girl is going to be interested in cross country. 

Further, what of the girls who excel in slow-pitch but maybe can’t catch up to the speed of the fast-pitch’s pitching? It would be more than a bit presumptuous for me to sit down with one of those girls and say, “Sorry, you may be good at this, but we have to get rid of it for something else you may or may not be good at.” My feelings are now decidedly mixed.

Could schools somehow allow softball players to work on fast-pitch during the fall? At most, they would have to have a softball period during school. There’s no guarantee every school that does fast-pitch would be willing to offer fast-pitch as a fall period or block. Further, Embry notes there’s practically no chance a fast-pitch team would be allowed to practice after school in the fall.

“They’re never going to let that happen because baseball can’t practice year-round,” Embry said. “I don’t see that as an option.”

Others might suggest girls simply play travel softball in the fall in order to stay in fast-pitch playing shape. Kennedy, however, is wary of that. She fears the possibility of travel ball ultimately replacing high school ball. Further, there are limitations when it comes to girls joining a fast-pitch team — and that’s not even getting into the financial side of things.

“If girls are on the same roster in fast-pitch, only a certain percentage could play on the same team as far as a travel team goes,” Kennedy explained. “I’m not sure of a number, but I think it’s no more than six girls on the same team.”

There’s no easy answer here that’s going to make it fair for everyone. If more schools pick up volleyball and drop slow-pitch, Embry wonders if the MHSAA would at least consider just combining slow-pitch into one classification instead of eliminating it entirely. That’s a compromise behind which I could get. One potential issue is schools that are fast-pitch only are some of the same schools pushing for slow-pitch’s elimination, Harper said, which may make the possibility of a compromise less likely. 

“If you think we have an advantage, add slow-pitch,” Harper said. 

Drew Kerekes is the sports editor at The Meridian Star. He can be reached at dkerekes@themeridianstar.com.