• Bachelor’s or higher degree or its equivalent is normally the minimum entry requirement for the position
• The degree requirement for the job is common to the industry or the job is so complex or unique that it can be performed only by an individual with a degree
• The employer normally requires a degree or its equivalent for the position
• The nature of the specific duties is so specialized and complex that the knowledge required to perform the duties is usually associated with the attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree.

For the beneficiary (the person to be employed) to qualify to accept a job offer in a specialty occupation you must meet one of the following criteria:

• Have completed a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree required by the specific specialty occupation from an accredited college or university
• Hold a foreign degree that is the equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s or higher degree in the specialty occupation
• Hold an unrestricted state license, registration, or certification which authorizes you to fully practice the specialty occupation and be engaged in that specialty in the state of intended employment
• Have education, training, or progressively responsible experience in the specialty that is equivalent to the completion of such a degree, and have recognition of expertise in the specialty through progressively responsible positions directly related to the specialty.

The following is taken directly from our RFE.  Basically they claimed the position of a coach did not require a degree and therefore could not be considered a specialty occupation.

A baccalaureate or higher degree or its equivalent is normally the minimum requirement for entry into the particular position;

The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH).(a publication of the United States Department of Labor), indicates that Coach is an occupation that does not require a baccalaureate level of education in a specific specialty as a normal, minimum for entry into the occupation. There is no clear standard for how one prepares for a career as a Coach and no requirement for a degree in a specific specialty. The requirements appear to vary by employer as to what course of study might be appropriate or preferred. As a result, the proffered position cannot be considered to have met this criterion.

Therefore, provide additional evidence to establish that the proffered position qualifies under one or more of the remaining three criteria:

Fortunately the USCIS allowed SoftballOne to respond to this claim and provide sufficient evidence for an approval.  My initial reaction to the claim was pure disbelief followed by a, “here we go again.”  How can coaching not be considered a specialty occupation in the eyes of the federal government?  Considering we clearly described the job duties that would be performed, the type of students she would be coaching, the nature of our business, and determined the prevailing wage for the LCA from the same OOH.  It wasn’t that they were saying only softball coaches didn’t need experience or a degree they were implying all coaches in all sports in the private market were not professionals requiring a degree or equivalent experience unless they were coaching at the University, or get this, the high-school level.  Unfortunately there are softball coaches in our profession, especially in our area, that lack any softball experience let alone went or finished college.  I know a couple that never even handled a baseball for their local high school teams and may or may not have a high school diploma.  However this isn’t the norm in other more advanced regions of the softball community and it is highly unusual in the overall industry of the private coaching sector.  It surely isn’t standard for other sports like football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, or baseball.  Because of the professional opportunities some players have in baseball, football, or basketball you may find coaches who have NBA, NFL, or major league experience and not a degree, but their professional playing experience prepares accordingly to teach and adequately enough to be approved for an H1-B visa by the USCIS.  It just appears our young female softball players are more susceptible to poor coaching and acceptance of low-end industry standards than other BIG money sports.  Daily I attempt to defend the quality of our game in our area and guard our children by explaining the many benefits of hiring a coach not only with college softball playing experience but a college degree under the belts.  My response to the RFE seemed easy enough.  The journey began.

Through my month long voyage of research and preparation I discovered why the USCIS held this position.   It is very easy to compose an opinion based on emotion, motive, or even worse convenience.  Decisions should be made based on sound facts and data.  Especially when you are talking about an industry or profession where profit is derived from servicing children. Was I communicating effectively to the community exactly what it means to hire a professional coach and what it takes to be a professional coach?  I discovered many of problems and risks our athletes face are a result of a lack of education and insight.  Maybe I needed to up my game and provide resources to parents, coaches, and children, better defend the profession of coach, validate coaching in the private sector, better protect our children, and ultimately increase their individual performance.  Was I explaining all the sport sciences applications used in daily instruction?  Maybe I needed to up my game with my curriculum.  Was I preventing injury the best of my ability even when it means telling people what they don’t want to hear?  Was I taking a strong enough stand for my profession and athletes?  Maybe I needed to up my game period and show with my actions and the actions of our staff instead of preaching and expecting everyone to simply just take my word for it and understand.  What does it mean for your child to be coached by a non-professional? Maybe I needed to provide proof.  Maybe a solution was due.

I invite you to read my response to the RFE.  One .pdf describes the nature of the position and the other describes the nature of the business.   I will also be adding links to the evidence I included for viewing.  There are many interesting articles regarding risks to our players because of the age, gender, and type of sport they play. There are also some examples of conditioning elements to help performance and  prevent injury especially for our pitchers.  You will also find information about nutrition, obesity, and eating disorders.  There is also a compare and contrast section between the various types of coaches in softball.  Below is the first paragraph…

Nature of the Position: Lead Defensive Coach (softball)

Coaching Children is not a commodity it is a Specialty

To address why the work to be performed in the proposed position is considered a “specialty position”, let us briefly examine the unique distinctions and trends of this industry (age, gender, and sport/softball), the risks associated with coaching such athletes, suitably define the legal and ethical responsibilities of coaches and businesses in the occupational field, and then explore the complexity of the service to be performed within this occupational field.  There is much more to this position than one would expect.

Nature of the Position.pdf

• Packet 1 – NCAA graduation rates.

• Packet 3 – examples of common training practices to prevent injury

• Packet 4 -examples of common nutritional training and assessment

• Packet 6 – examples of sports psychology training

Nature of the Business.pdf

• http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/- Coaching and Physical Education Standards

• Packet 3 – sections from the Indiana High School Athletic Association By-Laws regarding softball and softball coaches limitations.

• Packet 5 – additional training material of SoftballOne.

Yesterday the coaches invited Team Indiana to the Nantou tournament next year. It may be tricky with High School, but I think it can be done and would be a valuable learning experience for the team. The teams at this tournament are pretty good.

I can’t believe this trip is almost over. Today is my last coaching assignment. This experience has taught me so much. I can’t wait to see everyone, and share my photos and my experiences. And…have an adult conversation in complete sentences! I miss everyone and I will be back very very soon!
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I had to say goodbye to Cookie when we left for Nantou. It broke my heart when she ran along side the bus as we were leaving. Some of the players have told me they will feed her when I leave. I am sure she will be fine. Maybe I should bring her home.

It took us around 4 hours to get to here. Nantou is surrounded by mountains and is more like a small town. I am not sure how it started, but this is the hotbed for softball. I would say half the team plus all the coaches are from Nantou. You can tell they take great pride in this tournament and are very proud to show me their hometown. Although… I sprained my foot playing basketball with my translators. And the worst part about it all, we were kicking butt! But anyway my goal is to be able to walk without pain before the 7th. I went to a chinese doctor last night and he wrapped my foot in this herbal spread. The swelling has gone down, but I still can’t put weight on my foot. I am a little worried about the trip home. Cherri said just to get rides at the airport and I think I will. I want to go into the mountains and Sun Moon Lake on my two days off before I leave for Taipei. One of the players on the Nantou team is Native and her people reside in the mountains. I think her tribe is called Bandou. Anyway I would really like to see that culture and meet the people.

Last night was the tournament banquet. It was at a Japanese resturant which was odd. However, the food was wonderful except for the fish with eyeballs. I have tried and enjoyed almost everything put in front of me, but for some reason I cannot get over the fish head. I had raw fish in wasabi sauce. It was delicious.

Here are a couple photos from my time in Kaoshiung. When I have more time, I’ll post some from Nantou.

I woke up with no real plans except to take my bike and go get coffee. Then I got a knock on my door and 5 of the players told me they were taking me to the beach for a Barbeque! I grabbed my backpack and out the door I went. There are two pitchers here from the Philippines and they were also invited. The two pitchers speak Spanish to one another and one speaks excellent English, but neither speaks Chinese. One player from the team has taught herself English from TV and popular music. While driving to our destination we were all able to understand each other with our broken Chinese, Spanish, and English. Switching back and forth we managed to get our point across clearly.

Our tour guide and driver, Voice, dropped us off at a ferry which we took to a tiny little island. The last time I was on a boat in an Ocean I was Salmon fishing in San Francisco and puked for hours. Luckily, the trip was only 5 minutes and I never lost my land legs or stomach. Two of the players arrived early and set-up camp underneath a tree very close to the water. This was not a propone tank barbeque, and we didn’t even use charcoal, they collected wood from around the tree and burned it to coals. Our feast consisted of goat, foot long big bacon and thin loin strips, salted whole fish, tofu, and peppers. It was delicious and a great change of pace from the cafeteria food. I had a real problem when they killed the fish by hitting it over the head with a mallet. I think the fish was still alive and moving when they put it on the grill. When it was done they just put it on a plate and dug in with their chopsticks. Each bite I took of the fish I had visions of it flopping around on the grill. It was so tasty, but I couldn’t get over the whole kill the fish image. And since the head was still attached I felt like the fish was somehow watching me. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures.

I didn’t get a chance to get out of the complex today, but as I was entering the library a player drove up in her SCOOTER. She left the keys in the ignition and gave me the go. I rode around the complex and nearly took off out the front gate but then thought better of it.

From what I can tell the city has a terrible stray dog problem. There are several dogs throughout the complex that hang out on the track. There is one dog which I call Cookie (because she looks like an oreo) that has made her home close to one of our practice fields. Until today she has responded to my calls with a wagging tail but she never ventured close. She seems more civilized than the other dogs. So today I got smart and took food and water to practice. On my first day Coach Bill gave me a bag of little, dried fish. I only had one So I brought the rest out to Cookie and now I have a friend for life. By the beginning of practice she learned how to sit and stay. I may just have to sneak her into my room and give her bath. She is small enough to fit into my backpack.

My Cookie

It is all about speed. No thrills, no bells and whistles, just swing, and swing fast. A hitter can never get fast enough. Yes there is plate coverage, and hitting movement and off-speed, but when it is all said and done a hitter’s explosive speed and will-to-win will matter most. There is a lot of emphasis on tracking, but I believe it is all about form and swing speed. There is a logical progression with the learning structure and you cannot skip the steps, but there comes a point when conditioning plays a greater role in the success and performance of a hitter. Not knowing the language has really pushed me as a coach to find other means to communicate.

There is a hitter here who we call Da Pow, which translates into BIG HIT, and what I noticed first was her lack of follow-through and extension. On the follow-through it is the path of the bat and the distance it travels that is important, not the type of style. Whether a hitter is using a top-hand release or uses two hands on the follow-through, they must allow the bat to travel the same distance with equal speed. If they shorten or slow down they actually slow down before contact. Trust me, this is a hard concept to explain through a translator who has no prior softball knowledge. Da Pow is an experienced player with unbelievable power and strength. After several failed attempts through my translator to explain what was happening in her swing, I pulled out the camera and the Right View Pro. Within 5 minutes she understood exactly what was happening and made the correct adjustments. I used baseball and softball examples.  It also goes to show sometimes we don’t have to tell a player anything. Great athletes are usually very visual and can solve problems on their own. We facilitate the learning with the proper learning environment and tools. I see coaches who never played over-coach and not prepare players to think on their own.

Once again Coach Bill drove up on his scooter. I am beginning to get the hang of this whole scooter thing. (MOM don’t worry I won’t rent one while I am here.) We headed straight for a street cart and ordered buns, then we squeezed into a little restaurant to order soup. I guess the tradition is to eat soup and burn fake money on the last day of the New Year. The soup was delicious and I know exactly where the restaurant is located in case I have time to leave the complex again. Then Coach Bill took me to two more tourist attractions. People were praying and burning incense. I love the sightseeing.

Coach Bill dropped me off at my bike and asked where I was going. I told a little white lie…. I said I would go back, but I didn’t say when. Must have been lost in translation, I guess. I rode my borrowed bike for two hours and only got lost once!