Equity committee: If baseball adds games, softball should, too
AURORA — The equity committee, which oversees Title IX and other topics for CHSAA, isn’t taking a stance on the upcoming proposal to lengthen baseball’s season. The group did, however, strongly state that if baseball’s games limit is increased, softball should be given the same opportunity.
The Centennial and Continental Leagues have teamed up on a proposal that would increase baseball games from 19 to 23 in classes 5A, 4A and 3A. That proposal is set to be voted on by the Legislative Council during its meeting next week.
The topic was debated at length during the committee’s meeting on Thursday morning. Ultimately, the group put out the following statement:
The Equity Committee recognizes that the passage of this bylaw could present equity considerations and potential issues. We strongly recommend that each league considers these potential issues.
If this proposal passes, the Equity Committee would recommend the passage of an identical bylaw for the like sport of softball.
The topic of increasing games was briefly discussed by the softball committee during its most recent meeting, but no league ultimately submitted a proposal to do so.
This statement from the equity committee more than likely means that should the increase to baseball’s games limit pass next week, an identical proposal to increase softball’s games would be put before the Legislative Council for consideration in April.
“If the membership wants 23 baseball games, we would ask that they also support the addition of games in softball,” said Bethany Brookens, the CHSAA liaison to the equity committee. “We need to at least offer softball teams the chance to schedule the same amount of games as the comparable sport of baseball.”
