PAC-12 CONFERENCE SOFTBALL COACHES MEETING MINUTES. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. September 4, 2013 San Francisco, CA

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1 PAC-12 CONFERENCE SOFTBALL COACHES MEETING MINUTES 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. September 4, 2013 San Francisco, CA In attendance: Mike Candrea, Arizona; Craig Nicholson, Arizona State; Diane Ninemire, California; Mike White, Oregon; Laura Berg, Oregon State; John Rittman, Stanford; Kelly Inouye-Perez, UCLA; Amy Hogue, Utah; Stephanie Rempe (chair), Heather Tarr, Washington; Chris Dawson, Heather Vaughan, Kyra Geithman, Pac-12. Pac-12 staff Larry Scott, Gloria Nevarez, Coordinator of Softball Officiating Joanne Venditto, and Sean Harris were in attendance for portions of the meeting. Pac-12 Networks staff Lydia Murphy Stephans, Bob Keyser, Araceli Ortiz, Ky Weir, Mark Petix, and Kyle Reischling were also in attendance for portions of the meeting. 1. Approval of minutes of September 5, 2012, meeting, and January 10, 2013, conference call ACTION: The coaches voted (9-0) to approve the minutes of the September 5, 2012, meeting, and January 10, 2013, conference call. 2. Review of Conference regulations 2.1. Conference awards A discussion about possible changes to the procedures for the Pac-12 post-season awards generated recommendations for All Region and All American awards procedures, which were to be forwarded to the NFCA. These recommendations included establishing a power ranking; using the NCAA regional structure to align NFCA regions to keep all teams from the same conference in the same region; establishing standard power rating statistics (similar to the TwoJay stats used in the Pac-12) to be used in evaluation of the nominees; and changing the procedures so that second team All Region honorees could be considered for All American concurrently with first team All Region selections. There was a belief that these changes would improve the fairness of the selections. Pac-12 staff was to prepare a list of Pac-12 All Region and All American honorees for the last 10 years, to measure if Pac-12 numbers had declined since the NCFA regional structure was changed. The coaches wished to increase both the in-season and post-season awards presented in the Pac-12 as a vehicle to increase publicity and bolster All Region and All American resumes. It was noted that the SEC had a greater number of awards. ACTION: The coaches voted (9-0) to recommend increasing the number of weekly awards from two to four, to award an Offensive Player of the Week; a Defensive Player of the Week; a Freshman of the Week; and a Pitcher of the Week. These four awards would replace the existing awards of Player of the Week and Pitcher of the Week. ACTION: The coaches voted (9-0) to recommend amending SPR 12-3 to establish an All Defensive team, composed of nine players, selected by the coaches by the same process and on the same timeline as the other season-ending awards. Members of the All Defensive team would receive a certificate. ACTION: The coaches voted (9-0) to recommend the establishment of a preseason All Conference team, composed of all returning and eligible first and second team All Conference players from the 1

2 previous season. In addition, a watch list would be developed of newcomers comprised of recommendations from coaches (up to three per institution). No physical awards would be provided Game times With the advent of Pac-12 Networks, game times for television games were set by the Networks so SPR was obsolete. ACTION: The coaches voted (9-0) to recommend amending SPR 12-2-e as follows: For non-televised games, tthe home team shall establish the game times for the first two games of the series, with the game on the third day starting no later than noon. Game times for non-televised games may be changed by mutual consent of the participating coaches. Game times for televised games shall be established by the Conference office. The number of televised softball games was expected to increase from 34 to approximately 70 in It was anticipated that some series would be moved to Thursday-Friday-Saturday or Saturday- Sunday-Monday (once per season per team). Coaches expressed concern about conflicts with nonconference games scheduled on Tuesdays; Dawson stated that the programmers would take nonconference games into consideration when constructing the Pac-12 television schedule. The coaches were advised that the television schedule would not be final until December 1, and travel plans should not be completed until the TV schedule was known. 3. Scheduling Issues The confirmed 2014 Pac-12 schedule was reviewed. The coaches discussed the draft of the proposed 2015 Conference schedule, but declined to recommend approval. The group was advised that the Pac-12 Council approved the SWAC recommendation to provide Stanford with a bye during its dead week on an annual basis. This led to discussion about the rotation of the bye week and game sites with schedules that adhered to the previously approved parameters in which coaches specified the week they wish to play at home or have a bye. It became apparent that with these constraints, no true rotation of the schedule was possible. The coaches also desired to see draft schedules which separated the travel partners, to help control travel costs and to balance the chances of inclement weather to the extent possible. ACTION: The coaches voted (9-0) to approve the following parameters for use by the computer scheduler in creating drafts of the Pac-12 schedule: 1. each team plays one three-game series against each other team 2. four series at home, four series on the road for each team 3. season nine weeks long, with one team having a bye each week 4. Stanford has bye first weekend 5. bye for other eight teams rotates evenly over the course of an eight year cycle 6. alternate home and away series to the extent possible 7. if all teams cannot alternate home and away, no more than two consecutive weeks home or away 8. reversal of sites from previous year 9. separate these paired sites, so each team plays one at home and one on the road each year: Oregon - Oregon State Arizona - Arizona State Utah - Washington Cal - Stanford The staff was directed to have draft schedules for eight years developed ( ). The coaches were to meet via conference call to review these schedules. 2

3 The staff was asked to obtain and distribute conference schedules for all BCS conferences to assist in scheduling games during the bye weeks. 4. Commissioner s Report Scott discussed the ongoing negotiations with DirecTV, and the effort to get subscribers to switch carriers to be able to obtain the Pac-12 Networks. The coaches were asked to assist in this effort. Fans could be directed to pac-12.com/switch for more information. Coaches shared their desire to create a stronger brand for Pac-12 softball, noting it is the most successful Pac-12 sport in terms of NCAA championships. Scott identified the following paths to do that: obtain talented and knowledgeable announcers for Pac-12 softball, including cultivating former Pac-12 softball players; identify the media influencers for the sport and make a concerted effort to reach them; develop a plan for positioning Pac-12 softball, particularly vis-a-vis the SEC; and make sure production values (camera angles) show the sport appropriately. 5. Pac-12 Networks Pac-12 Networks staff joined the group to review Pac-12 Networks programming in its first year, and discuss the plans for year two. Keyser described the Pac-12 Networks vehicles for softball, which included game broadcasts (expect to increase to 70 in 2014); live streaming of non-televised games; the Pac-12 Sports Report, an hour-long show which was scheduled to make its debut in September 2013 which was to include highlights and features; Pac Profiles, highlighting individual student-athletes; content provided by each campus, which could feature academic as well as athletics topics; and extensive use of digital highlights and features. The discussion about better branding of Pac-12 softball continued with Networks staff, along with a request for increasing the amount of softball shown in the general Pac-12 promotions. Ideas for ways to increasing branding and publicity included: developing a sport-specific softball promotional video; creating an opening and closing billboard for Pac-12 softball so that the games would be instantly recognizable; creating a consistent message about the sport focusing on its successful history and using it widely; identifying the websites where softball buzz was built prior to and during the season, and making sure the Pac-12 got its message out; having schools provide Pac-12 Networks with video highlights from games not televised for use on the Pac-12 Sports Report and digital platforms; coaches providing feature ideas and messaging themes; working to increase the reach to fan through use of social media; and identifying great moments in Pac-12 softball history. The option of having a sport-specific promotional video was to be explored by the Pac-12 Networks staff. Feature story ideas could also be relayed to Pac-12 Networks through the softball SID at each institution to Pac-12 Networks Assignment Manager Laura Podolak (lpodolak@pac-12.org). University Relations staff Keyser (bkeyser@pac-12.org) and Ortiz (aortiz@pac-12.org) were secondary contacts at Pac-12 Networks with whom to share story ideas. 6. Marketing & Public Relations Vaughan reviewed the branding requirements for institutions, including uniforms, equipment, and facilities. She stated that the Pac-12 logo was now being required to be used on coaches apparel in addition to uniforms. Patches in school colors would be provided for this purpose. Vaughan reported that the Conference had renewed the ball sponsorship deal with Wilson, which would provide each institution with 30 dozen free balls each year for three years. Additional balls could be purchased at a preferred price of $ The balls were to be sent to the Cal and Stanford coaches, and 3

4 to the equipment managers at all other institutions. Wilson also purchased advertising on Pac-12 Networks. Worth was approached about a similar deal, but declined. Based on the discussions during the entire meeting, Vaughan planned to put together talking points about Pac-12 softball as a way to begin a coordinated branding effort. Geithman reviewed the media activities for softball. She would be in contact with institutional SID s during the season. 7. NCAA Committee Report Rempe, a member of the NCAA Softball Committee, presented information from the July, 2013, committee meeting, including in-depth discussion of ESPN issues. Among the topics from ESPN was a desire to shorten games (which were often running over the two-hour window) by reducing the time between each half-inning. Contrary to popular wisdom, ESPN stated it was often waiting for teams to be ready to play after returning from commercial, rather than teams waiting for television. To address the ESPN s timing concerns, the coaches supported changes to the NCAA Playing Rules. In the meantime, the coaches elected to adopt best practices to shorten the game times. Conference staff was to gather data on game times for all 2013 games, including a list of game length for TV games, for review. ACTION: The coaches voted (9-0) to recommend adopting as a best practice a prohibition on huddles after outs when the bases are empty, for all Conference games and tournaments hosted at Pac-12 sites. ACTION: The coaches voted (9-0) to recommend adopting as a best practice a time limit of one minute, 30 seconds between each half inning (last out to first pitch), for all Conference games and tournaments hosted at Pac-12 sites. The umpires were to be directed to enforce these best practices, although no penalty was prescribed if they were violated. Coaches expressed a desire for uniformity in application of NCAA policies and procedures during NCAA post-season play, and more experienced site representatives, particularly as regards locker room and dugout assignments, and pre-game warm-ups. Rempe reported there had been discussion of extending the time frames for Super Regionals and the WCWS so that only one game a day was played, and establishing Monday as an off day for all teams in the WCWS, but budget and television considerations precluded that at this time. Rempe planned to ask coaches about any game management concerns related to the NCAA tournament immediately after the 2014 WCWS so she would have this information in the future before the NCAA Committee s annual meeting in July. It was noted that Utah Senior Associate AD Mary Bowman was now the Pac-12 representative on the NCAA Softball Rules Committee. 8. Officiating Report Venditto provided an overview of Pac-12 softball officiating activities for , describing in detail the efforts being made to improve officiating performance. Use of video and increased conference calls with observers and crew chiefs were expected to continue for Coaches were provided with a projected umpire roster, and asked to provide Venditto with their recommendations for NCAA postseason competition. These would be the umpires the NCAA staff would attempt to evaluate during the season. 4

5 The updated fees and expenses were reviewed. Dawson stated that fall game fees and tournament fees were likely to increase significantly in the next few years, which was necessary to stay current with the market. For spring tournaments in particular, the Pac-12 has fallen behind other conferences which made scheduling umpires difficult when multiple tournaments are scheduled the same weekend. 9. Committee Rotation The coaches reviewed the rotational chart for committee responsibilities. Laura Berg of Oregon State was going to replace Amy Hogue as the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee representative, effective with the 2014 season. Hogue was to replace Heather Tarr as the NFCA Head Coach Committee representative after the December 2013 meeting. 10. NFCA Report The NFCA discussion centered on alignment of regions and changes in the All American selection process desired by the Pac-12. Tarr was to present this at the NFCA meeting in December. 11. Future Meetings The spring coaches conference call was set for Tuesday, April 17, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time. The 2014 annual business meeting was set for Thursday, September 4, 2014, at the Pac-12 Networks offices in San Francisco. cad/