CHARLOTTESVILLE — The National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations has announced that each state must implement pitch count limits for baseball in 2017, and the VHSL released the timeline for establishing that pitch count on Tuesday.
- Late August: Conduct a survey of VHSL baseball coaches to obtain data on pitch-count ranges currently used by the state’s coaches.
- Sept. 7: VHSL Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) meets.
- Mid-September: Convene the original pitching policy committee with additional representatives to ensure that each of the 12 regions is represented.
- Sept. 21: Present the intended process and timeline to the Executive Committee.
- Early October: Using data from the survey and other available information, through the re-convened pitching policy committee, develop a pitch-count-based policy for membership review prior to the October membership meetings.
- Oct. 13: Discussion and possible break-out session regarding pitch-count during the membership meetings.
- Late October: Modify policy, as appropriate, based on membership discussion and feedback for dissemination and additional discussion in the regions prior to December Executive Committee meeting.
- Dec. 7: Submit pitch-count legislation as "emergency legislation" to the Executive Committee, after vetting throughout the fall.