Georgia High School baseball coaches will now have the ability to use one-way electronic communication devices to send pitches to their catcher from the dugout.
The National Federation of State High School Association's Board of Directors approved the Baseball Rules Committee's revision of rules 1-6-2 and 3-2-4 at its meeting in June.
According to NFHS, the new rules prohibit coaches from communicating with players besides the catcher on defense and with any player while batting. The coach must also be in the dugout when using the communication device.
"This change is consistent with the growth of the game and is indicative of a measured and responsible approach to enable technology into our level of competition," said Elliot Hopkins, NFHS Director of Sports and Educational Services and liaison to the Baseball Rules Committee. "The committee has made these changes to maintain the balance between offense and defense; increase the pace of play; and will responsibly manage technology so there is no advantage gained by schools that have more available resources than some of their contemporaries. Creating a level playing field is paramount to education-based athletics."
Flowery Branch baseball coach Joey Ray has mixed feelings about the new rule.
"I don't have a strong opinion either way," he said. "We have more difficulty communicating offensively and defensively than we have a coach to catcher. So I'm not sure what the goal is with only allowing coach-to-catcher communication and not to the pitcher or infielders as well. It seems to be an unnecessary baby step instead of a productive step."
Ray also expressed concern about how much the communication devices will cost and said they may or may not use them.
"It's very expensive, and very few programs will be able to afford it until competitors create cheaper alternatives," he said. "We may [use it], but it will not be a priority until they allow defenders to use them."
In 2021, the NCAA approved electronic communication to call pitches and defensive plays. Teams can also use a one-way in-ear communication device limited for use from the dugout to the catcher.
Last season, Major League Baseball approved using Pitchcom to help eliminate sign stealing by the opposing team. Instead of relying on signs now, the catcher wears a forearm sleeve with nine buttons for calling the pitch and location. The pitcher has a receiver in his cap, and the catcher wears one in his helmet. MLB also allows three other fielders to wear receivers to help with defensive positioning -- typically, the two midfielders and the centerfielder.
The new high school rule, however, only allows communication from a coach in the dugout to the catcher; no fielders will have the ability to use the devices.
Regardless, Cherokee Bluff coach Jeremy Kemp is excited about the new rule.
"It's going to add a ton of practice time for everyone," he said. "So much practice time was spent putting all that stuff in and working on signs and communication."
North Hall coach Trevor Flow also is on board and has been a proponent of the change for some time.
"I do like it. I've tried to do it for three years," he said. "It makes communication so much more fluid and less confusing, especially for teams that have different things to do."
The NFHS BOD also added Rule 1-6-1, "which designates a wristband with defensive shifts, pitching choices or game directions as non-electronic equipment and must be a single, solid color and worn on the forearm. Pitchers' cards must not be white, gray, or a distracting color and worn on their non-pitching arm."
