High school softball coaches will be able to use electronic devices in the dugout for one-way communication to the catcher while the team is on defense beginning in 2025. 

The change was the highlight of the NFHS Softball Rules Committee’s recommendations that came out of the committee’s annual rules meeting held in June. The NFHS Board of Directors approved the change to take effect next year.

“This change is the result of analysis of current data, state association experimentation and a positive response from the membership,” said Sandy Searcy, NFHS director of sports and liaison to the Softball Rules Committee. “The committee has made these changes to support the use of emerging technology within the sport of softball.”

In addition to permitting the one-way communication devices, the updated version of the rule specifies that coaches are prohibited from using the device “to communicate with any other team member while on defense or any team member while on offense” and that the coach cannot use the device “outside the dugout/bench area.”

According to the most recent NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, 344,952 girls in 15,406 high schools played fast-pitch softball in 2022-23 making it the fifth-most popular girls sport, while an additional 6,058 girls participated in slow-pitch softball.