The host team's head coach in NCAA softball games during the 2003 regular season will be required to print the American Softball Association's (ASA) list of banned bats each Monday.

The requirement, which will be added to the 2003 NCAA Softball Rules book, is a reaction to bats being banned and recertified under the ASA Bat Certification Program.

In January, the NCAA Softball Rules Committee began requiring ASA bat certification on all bats used in intercollegiate play.

"We had to take action now to ensure that we were all using the same list of banned bats throughout the season," said Kathy Veroni, chair of the Softball Rules Committee and head coach at Western Illinois University. "The frequency and unpredictability of banning bats in recent months has made it a difficult issue, but the weekly requirement should not be too much of a burden on coaches."

On July 31, the ASA banned six bats that previously had been listed as approved after random testing. A month later, a second list of banned bats was issued, which included nine more models.

Ongoing testing could result in more bats being banned from play. Also, 12 of the 15 banned bats now have been cleared for a recertification mark if returned to the manufacturer for reworking, so the list of banned bats, which is available on the ASA's Web site (www.softball.org/
about/certified_equipment.asp), also will verify that bats with the recertification mark are legal for intercollegiate play.

Under the new rule, the host team's head coach is required to provide the list of banned bats to the umpires and opposing teams before each contest, doubleheader or tournament, starting with the traditional spring season. The list, which is to be printed each Monday and will be good for the next seven days, will ensure that the list hasn't changed since the umpire's last assignment or a team's last contest.

Ensuring that the equipment used is safe and equitable ultimately is the coach's responsibility.

In instances where coaches and umpires can't agree on the legality of a bat (for instance, illegible letters or numbers), a coach may file a protest by following procedures outlined in the rules book. The coach and the umpire must note detailed information about the bat being challenged when filing the report, and the umpire must take custody of the bat.

An illegal bat used in a game, whether discovered before the game and used anyway or discovered during the course of play and reported through the process, will result in a forfeit. The bat in question is sent to the softball secretary-rules editor, who determines its legality.

If a protest is made about a bat that the umpire has declared to be legal, the bat can be used for the remainder of the contest. The umpire will mark the bat for identification and take custody at the end of the game.

"We don't want any team to have an unfair advantage because of a banned bat, and we don't want a forfeit because of one, either," Veroni said. "We gave this rule some teeth with the hope that neither situation -- the unfair advantage or a forfeit -- will happen to any team."

Bats sent to the secretary-rules editor will not be tested in any way. The only consideration in determining legality is whether it appears on the banned list. In some cases where determinations are especially difficult to make, the secretary-rules editor may contact the manufacturer. If the secretary-rules editor determines that a bat is illegal, the team using the bat will be required to forfeit the game at which it was challenged.

If the bat submitted to the secretary-rules editor is found to be illegal, the institution must pay for the bat to be returned (it will be returned to the attention of the athletics director). A bat ruled to be legal will be returned immediately to the institution with a letter verifying its legality.

The NCAA and the rules committee strongly advise all programs to adhere to all playing rules during the fall season. However, NCAA bylaws do not require adherence during the nontraditional season (NCAA Bylaw 17.32).

"There is the loophole with the fall season that teams wouldn't have to follow the bat rule, but teams not following this rule are proceeding at their own risk," said Dee Abrahamson, secretary-rules editor for the rules committee and associate director of athletics at Northern Illinois University. "The rules committee believes banned bats should not be used during practice or play."

When viewing the list of banned bats, coaches and umpires should take special note of each model's name, since each model of each line of a bat from a specific manufacturer is tested individually. For example, a bat named "Rules" produced by Company A could have four models (Rules01, RulesXL, RulesD1, RulesGO). If RulesGO is banned, the other three models are still legal, provided they are not on the banned list.

Details about the recertification process are available on each manufacturer's Web site.