LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The NFCA is pleased to announce Blast Motion as its newest official partner. Blast Motion, the complete hitting solution for players, coaches and teams, has agreed to a two-year contract and will sponsor the NFCA Coaches Clinics’ lanyards.

“The NFCA is excited to welcome Blast Motion as an NFCA Partner,” said NFCA Executive Director Carol Bruggeman. “The use of technology in softball has grown tremendously over the past few years and Blast Motion provides user-friendly information that enhances both the student-athlete and coaching experience.  Blast Motion is a first-class, innovative company and we appreciate their involvement with our Coaches Clinics across the country.”

Blast Motion is a wearable technology and sports analysis app that improves your game with real-time motion analysis, video capture and coaching. Used by several NPF teams, players and coaches, it is the industries’ most accurate motion capture sensor integrated with analysis, coaching, communication and management tools.

“For the past year, we have taken steps to work with some of the biggest names in the industry to develop the best softball product in the market,” said Jeff Fallis, Vice President of Sales at Blast Motion. “The NFCA’s commitment to excellence, innovation and the sharing of information aligns well with that mission. We look forward to being a part of the growth plan by providing coaches, players and teams with advanced tools and insights for improvement within the Blast Motion Solution.”

The NFCA will host seven two-day clinics in January 2018, which were preceded by a clinic on Dec. 2, 2017. Below are the remaining locations and dates:

Louisville (Jan. 5-6, 2018) | Chicago (Jan. 5-6, 2018) | Portland, Ore. (Jan. 12-13, 2018) | Charlotte (Jan. 12-13, 2018) | Minneapolis (Jan. 19-20, 2018) | Nashville (Jan. 19-20, 2018) | Kansas City (Jan. 26-27, 2018)

More than half of Canadians want the right to request search engines remove what they believe to be harmful, personal information from search results, says a new poll.

Coined “the right to be forgotten,” it’s a practice that’s already in place in the European Union, and will be seriously considered by Canadian lawmakers, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the federal court this year.

But an expert warns giving companies like Google the power to decide what data should stay in search results and what should be harder to find is a dangerous road to go down, even if people’s reputations are on the line.

“You’re giving a lot of power to a search engine to determine and decide what information is in public interest,” lawyer and privacy expert Eloïse Gratton told HuffPost Canada. “I think people perhaps don’t understand the implications of this right.”

WATCH: Google fights right to be forgotten

The research foundation Angus Reid Institute found 51 per cent of Canadians believe people should have the right to be forgotten, and search engine results changed so that “negative information doesn’t dominate their online record forever,” according to the poll results released earlier this week.

Twenty-six per cent of Canadians believe Internet searches are a form of public record and results shouldn’t be erased, and twenty-three per cent said they weren’t sure or couldn’t say, the poll found.

Right now, Canadians don’t have a way to request search engines like Google de-index specific, potentially harmful search results, making specific web pages and information more difficult to find. Google said it wants to keep it that way.

“Removing lawful information from a search engine limits access to media properties, past decisions by public figures and information about many other topics,” said Peter Fleischer, Google’s Global Privacy Counsel in an email statement. “Freedom of expression is a broadly recognized — and passionately defended — right in Canada and we believe that every Canadian has the right to access lawful information.”

After public consultations, however, Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien determined under Canada’s existing privacy law, Canadians should have the right to be forgotten.

“We approached this work with one key goal in mind: helping to create an environment where individuals may use the Internet to explore their interests and develop as persons without fear that their digital trace will lead to unfair treatment,” Therrien wrote in a report to parliament last September.

Therrien has requested the federal court determine if Canadians have the right to be forgotten, and the case will move ahead in the coming months, said the privacy commissioner’s office.

A complaint Therrien’s office received is included in the court application. An unnamed man alleged Google will not de-index links to online news articles that appear when his name is searched even though the articles are outdated, inaccurate and reveal his sexual orientation and serious medical condition, according to the application.

“The fact that Google prominently links these articles to his name in search results has caused, and continues to cause him, direct harm,” said the application.

Ultimately, parliament will decide if it will clarify or change its privacy law to include the right to be forgotten, and so far it’s supported by MPs from the Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics committee, which made the recommendation in its report from February.

It also recommended Canada consider including in its privacy act the right for Canadians, especially young people, to have personal information posted online erased.

“Our committee expressly focused on minors,” said Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, a vice chair on the committee. “We post online and do stupid things when we’re kids. Intuitively it makes sense the right to be forgotten should exist right away for minors.”

He emphasized the information that qualified to be erased or de-indexed would have to be untrue, or embarrassing and not in the public interest.

Committee chair Bob Zimmer, a Conservative MP, said Canada needs to start thinking of data as “digital DNA” and sacrosanct. That approach encompasses the right to be forgotten — if Canadians want a webpage about them to be more difficult find because it includes false or personal information, for example, they should be allowed to make that request, he said.

“Our data is our soul online, so we should be able to affect it. We should own our information,” Zimmer said. “You don’t let people take your DNA. You shouldn’t let people take your data.”

Following a court ruling in 2014 that found search engines must allow for people to request information be de-indexed if it is inadequate, irrelevant, or excessive, Google set up an online application process.

Since then, Google has received close to three million requests to de-list URLs, and done so 44 per cent of the time, it reported. People have wanted urls to be removed from search results because they contain personal information or insufficient information, are related to a crime, or professional wrongdoing, or the link doesn’t actually contain their name, among other reasons.

If Canada decides it wants to put into place the right to be forgotten, it shouldn’t copy Europe’s approach, Gratton said. Instead of allowing Google to decide what should or shouldn’t be removed, the government needs to set up a separate body with judicial oversight to handle requests, or it could strengthen defamation and privacy laws to discourage harmful information from being published in the first place.

“Is this a public figure? Is this information relevant for researchers? Is it a one-sided request? Should this info de-indexed forever? We need to think about all these issues,” Gratton said.

The poll results come from an online survey of 1,500 Canadian adults conducted last November, and carry a margin of error +/- 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by the Angus Reid Institute.

More from HuffPost:

The collegiate softball season is already a month old as March has snuck up on us. This weekend, NCAA Division III is highlighted by 27 top-25 matchups, all taking place at the NFCA’s Division III Leadoff Classic, March 2-4 in Tucson, Ariz. The loaded field features 2017 national champion Virginia Wesleyan, national runner-up St. John Fisher, national championship participants Trine, Illinois Wesleyan and St. Catherine, along with 16 more programs who earned berths to the NCAA Tournament

NFCA DIII Leadoff Classic Top-25 matchups

Tournament Central

All games MT

March 2

10 a.m.

20 Wisconsin-Oshkosh v. 22 George Fox (Field 2)

21 Central v. 6 Trine (Field 3)

T24 Babson v. 11 Christopher Newport (Field 4)

12:30 p.m

18 Messiah v. 20 Wisconsin-Oshkosh (Field 2)

11 Christopher Newport v. 21 Central (Field 3)

6 Trine v. T24 Babson (Field 4)

T24 Berry v. RV St. Thomas (Field 5)

3 p.m.

9 Texas Lutheran v. 2 St. John Fisher (Field 6)

5:30 p.m.

2 St. John Fisher v. 5 Illinois Wesleyan (Field 5)

17 Moravian v. 1 Virginia Wesleyan (Field 8)

March 3

10 a.m.

13 East Texas Baptist v. 1 Virginia Wesleyan (Field 8)

3 p.m.

T24 Babson v. 20 Wisconsin-Oshkosh (Field  2)

22 George Fox v. 18 Messiah (Field 4)

T24 Berry v. 5 Illinois Wesleyan (Field 5)

RV St. Thomas v. 9 Texas Lutheran (Field 6)

6 Trine v. 2 St. John Fisher (Field 8)

5:30 p.m.

21 Central v. T24 Babson (Field 1)

18 Messiah v. 6 Trine (Field 3)

11 Christopher Newport v. 22 George Fox (Field 4)

9 Texas Lutheran v. T24 Berry (Field 5)

March 4

9 a.m.

9 Texas Lutheran v. T24 Babson (Field 6)

11:30 a.m.

1 Virginia Wesleyan v. 9 Texas Lutheran (Field 8)

2 p.m.

13 East Texas Baptist v. 6 Trine (Field 1)

22 George Fox v. 5 Illinois Wesleyan (Field 3)

4:30 p.m.

11 Christopher Newport v. 13 East Texas Baptist (Field 2)

2 St. John Fisher v. 22 George Fox (Field 4)

20 Wisconsin-Oshkosh v. RV St. Thomas (Field 7)

NCAA DI

March 2

Noon (PT) – 25 Michigan v No. 8 Baylor (Judi Garman) | Watch ($)

3 p.m. (ET) – 6 Oregon at 13 Florida State | Live Stats

3:45 p.m. (PT) – 11 Alabama at 1 Washington | Live Stats

7:35 p.m. (CT) – 23 McNeese State at 10 LSU | Live Stats

March 3

10 a.m. (PT) – 2 Florida v 8 Baylor (Judi Garman) | Watch ($)

2 p.m. (PT) – 3 UCLA v 21 Minnesota (Sand Diego Classic I) | Live Stats

5 p.m. (PT) – 11 Alabama at 1 Washington | Live Stats

March 4

11:30 a.m. (ET) – 6 Oregon at 13 Florida State | Live Stats

2 p.m. (PT) – 8 Baylor v 18 Louisiana (Judi Garman) | Watch ($)

NCAA DII

March 2

2 p.m. (CT) – 21 Texas A&M-Commerce at No. 18 Cameron (DH) | Live Stats

March 3

1 p.m. (CT) – 21 Texas A&M-Commerce at No. 18 Cameron | Live Stats

March 4

1 p.m. (ET) – 13 Southern Indiana v. 19 Winona State (Clermont, Fla.) | Watch ($)

NAIA

March 2

6:15 p.m. (CT) 8 William Carey v. 14 Reinhardt (Gulf Shores, Ala.) | Live Stats

March 3

1:30 p.m. (CT) – 2 Columbia v. 14 Reinhardt (Gulf Shores, Ala.) | Live Stats

2 p.m. (CT) – 1 Oklahoma City v. 13 Ottawa (Kan.) (Friends Tournament) | Live Stats

LAS VEGAS — Record-breaking attendee numbers and keynote speaker Jessica Mendoza highlighted the opening day of the 2017 NFCA Convention at Bally’s Las Vegas. With 1,685 attendees, it is the second straight year the association’s marquee event set a record, eclipsing last year’s 1,592 attendees.

Wednesday kicked off with three, three-hour pre-convention seminars, one more offering for the membership this year. Arkansas assistant coach Matt Meuchel crunched the numbers in “How Statistics & Metrics Can Help You Win More Games”, five highly successful veteran coaches imparted their wisdom in “Lessons in Leadership” and the third year of the Assistant Coaches University.

Following various committee meetings, the Triple Crown Sports “Rookie” Orientation, designed for first-time attendees and led by Nebraska’s Rhonda Revelle, Georgetown’s Pat Conlan, NFCA executive director Carol Bruggeman and Auburn’s Mickey Dean guided members through their first-ever convention.

Led by NFCA president Karen Weekly and the respective NFCA Board of Director Division reps, the membership groups from High School through NCAA Division I brought forth their issues going into their respective caucuses in the brand new Issues Forum.

After Weekly and Bruggeman greeted the jam-packed room during the “First-Pitch” Opening Welcome, a passionate Mendoza addressed those in attendance and urged them to grow the game for the better. They are the ones who can shape young ladies lives.

The evening concluded off with USSSA’s Leadoff Reception as attendees mingled over food, beverages and music.

Thursday will focus on business, coaching milestones, exhibitors, and the first two speaking sessions. Additionally, the always popular mentoring session and two sponsored social events in the Scrap Yard Sports Happy Hour and the Diamond/PGF Social off site at Margaritaville.

Start your Thursday with a bolt of energy during Jenn Williams’ (MIT) early morning Blackjack Bootcamp and grab some food at the Schutt Sports Continental Breakfast. At 8:30 a.m., the NFCA’s membership groups will discuss important topics and issues at their respective caucuses. Following the caucuses, celebrate coaching milestones, while enjoying a hearty meal at the Victory Club Luncheon.

Be sure to check out the sold out exhibit hall with 135 companies in attendance and then listen the NFCA Hall of Famer Mike Candrea lead off our speaker lineup, followed by our Division I Championship Series pitching coaches Melyssa Lombardi of Oklahoma and Florida’s Jennifer Rocha.

In the evening, the mentoring session is followed by the Fireside Chats, which will break into hitting and pitching conversations, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ “Coaching Today’s Athlete.”

Photo courtesy of Jade Hewett

Click:cultural heritage

The first North Atlantic right whale calf of the winter season has been spotted off the Florida coast heading north with its mother, a known resident of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says on Facebook that the two endangered whales were sighted near the mouth of the state’s St. Johns River.

It says the mother — referred to by her catalogue number, 2791 — was spotted five days earlier off the Georgia coast.

Right whales typically migrate south from the North Atlantic to give birth off the coasts of Georgia and Florida from December through March.

Critically endangered

Melissa Munro, a spokeswoman for the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, says in a statement that no newborns were recorded last year, and the population sits at a critically low number.

She says the population has been downgraded to 411 — only 71 of which are females that could potentially reproduce.

“This one baby represents a whole lot of hope,” Munro said, adding that five females have been identified as possibly expecting calves.

But despite the “joyful” news, she said right whales are “not out of the woods. Not by a long stretch.”

U.S. federal officials said earlier this month that last year was slightly worse than average for the entanglement of large whales, which is a major threat to marine populations.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said entanglement in fishing gear, such as traps, nets and fishing lines, is a major concern for jeopardized species such as the North Atlantic right whale.

The Canadian government put in place measures to protect right whales after 17 of the endangered aquatic mammals died last year — a dozen of them in Canadian waters.

Fishing areas were closed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, speed limits were reduced for vessels and the Fisheries department increased surveillance of the area to look out for the whales.

The Canada Post strike saga entered a dramatic new chapter last week when the federal government announced it was considering using a law to get postal workers back on the job.

Last week, Labour Minister Patty Hajdu said the Liberal government did not want to resort to using back-to-work legislation, but noted there was “limited progress” in the talks between the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and Canada Post and that the feds had “exhausted” all options.

Hajdu said the Liberals maintain that the best outcome is one that is reached by both parties at the negotiating table, but if that can’t happen, then the government would have to intervene.

Two days later, the government tabled the Postal Services Resumption and Continuation Act, or Bill C-89.

Back up. What is back-to-work legislation?

In some ways, it’s just that: a law that aims to get employees back on the job.

But it’s more complicated — and controversial.

“The basic premise of labour law and collective bargaining in Canada is that the parties are allowed to engage in their own collective bargaining and then to engage in strikes and lockouts as a way of applying leverage if they can’t get agreements through the bargaining process,” said Michael Mac Neil, an associate professor at Carleton University’s law department, told HuffPost Canada.

It’s used as a “last chance measure” when two parties can’t reach a deal on their own, he added.

The government says it’s wading into the Canada Post issue because both parties have not made any progress in negotiations and that it has “exhausted” all options.

You’re telling me a government can force me to work? This is my nightmare. It’s time for revolution.

No, it’s not that broad. A federal or provincial government can mandate some employees back to work if the type of job they have is deemed essential to issues like health and security, Mac Neil said.

Of course, the jobs have to be in the government’s jurisdiction, too. Canada Post is a Crown corporation, so it’s a federally-run shop. Similarly, the months-long strike at Toronto’s York University, which fell under the provincial government’s jurisdiction, was also ended with back-to-work legislation from the Ontario government.

“When the government makes an assessment that the amount of harm that’s being caused by a strike is more than the general public should be required to bear, then they will on a one-off basis pass legislation ordering the strike to stop and ordering the workers to go back to work,” he said.

This also involves installing some type of dispute-resolution system for the two parties, whether it’s mediation or arbitration, or both.

So the back-to-work law’s main goal is to end a strike, then?

Yes, but another complicating factor is that the Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the right to strike is protected by the Constitution.

“So for the government to demonstrate intervening and putting a limit on strikes, it has to have a very persuasive case for doing so,” Mac Neil explained, “which usually means it has to be in a position to demonstrate that there is some considerable harm being done by the strike or the lockout.”

What is the harm being done in the postal strike, then?

Great question, made-up voice I’ve randomly introduced to ask me things.

The government is arguing that the harm here is financial. Hajdu said the postal system is an “essential service,” and that small businesses that rely on it to deliver their goods over the busy Christmas season could go bankrupt if the situation isn’t remedied quickly.

“And that’s one of the controversial issues in relation to the use of back-to-work legislation,” Mac Neil noted.

“Should it only be considered for situations where there is sort of a jeopardizing health and safety of the public? Or should it also be able [in situations] where it’s causing just economic harms?”

How does the law actually get people back on the job?

In this case, Bill C-89 would give a mediator-arbitrator chosen by the government 90 days to try and reach contract settlements with the union and Canada Post.

If that doesn’t work, the arbitrator could choose a settlement for the two parties or green light one of the final proposals that either party has suggested.

Once it receives royal assent, the law effectively makes striking — for the affected employees, specifically — illegal, Mac Neil said.

What actually deters people from striking, however, depends on several factors.

The employer could choose to file an injunction against people who don’t show up to work. If they don’t comply, he said, they could be charged with contempt of court. That could lead to fines and even imprisonment, “especially if union leaders are the ones continuing to call for a strike.”

The law could also have monetary fines baked into it for any employees (or employers) who break the rules.

Bill C-89, for example, could impose fines of between $1,000 and $50,000 per day on anyone found in contravention of the Act, and up to $100,000 per day against Canada Post or the union if they are found guilty of violating its terms.

And there’s always the possibility of “disciplinary action,” Mac Neil said.

“They could suspend them or fire them.”

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess the postal workers’ union is not happy about this.

Not one bit. CUPW, which is calling for better pay, more job security and minimum guaranteed hours for its workers, among other things, said in a statement over the weekend that a back-to-work law would send its workers “back to the same old unresolved problem.”

“Postal workers will not accept another violation of our right to free collective bargaining,” said Mike Palecek, CUPW’s national president, in a statement.

“It’s not just a matter of our Charter rights. This bill legislates continued injuries, unpaid work, gender inequality, and general dishonesty and disrespect.”

The union says “all options are on the table” when it comes to pushing back should the legislation pass.

One of those options is taking the government to court, according to Meghan Whitfield, president of CUPW’s Toronto Local 626.

In 2011, the union launched a similar challenge to the former Conservative government under Stephen Harper. It ended with a victory for postal workers after an Ontario court ruled the Tories violated the workers’ constitutional rights by ordering them back to work.

“Another option is defying the legislation, whether we’re fined or not,” she told HuffPost.

Whitfield said postal workers feel “betrayed” by the Liberal government.

“Back in 2011, this was happening to us under the [Stephen] Harper government. CUPW organized, mobilized that we made sure we got rid of Stephen Harper and the Conservative government. We did do a lot of work with the Liberals.”

Whitfield said back-to-work legislation creates a lot of uncertainty for workers. The tension can get worse after the legislation is passed, she added, because the arbitrator could side with the employer.

“And if the arbitrator takes that we basically start back at ground zero.”

As of Monday, Bill C-89 is still being debated in the Senate. If it goes through, workers will be forced back on the job at noon the day after it goes into effect.

\With files from The Canadian Press

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Thirty of the top NCAA^® softball student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates today for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award^® in collegiate softball.

Precious Birdsong, Middle Tennessee State

Briana Matazinsky, Manhattan

Rebecca Blitz, Indiana

Paige Parker, Oklahoma

Devin Brown, South Alabama

Kylee Perez, UCLA

Kaylee Carlson, Auburn

Erika Piancastelli, McNeese State

Ivie Drake, Georgia State

Randi Rupp, Texas State       

Lea Foerster, Michigan State

Jacquelyn Sertic, N. Dakota State

Meghan Gregg, Tennessee

Vanessa Shippy, Oklahoma State

Kylee Hanson, Florida State

Taylor Van Zee, Washington

Brittany Hitchcock, Hawaii

Tori Vidales, Texas A&M

Carley Hoover, LSU

Alexis Walkden, Seton Hall

Gabrielle Kelliher, Marist

Carlee Wallace, Baylor

Morgan Klaevemann, Florida State

Allie Walljasper, LSU

Meghan Kovac, Bucknell 

Emily Watson, Tulsa

Kayli Kvistad, Florida

Taylor White, Ohio State

Emily Lochten, Florida Atlantic

Carolyn Wright, Lehigh 

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
 
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ^®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. 
 
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
 
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2018 Women’s College World Series^®.
 
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

Courtesy of Premier Sports Management

TORONTO — Police forces in cities across Canada were investigating multiple bomb threats on Thursday as authorities in the U.S. said similar threats sent to dozens of locations appeared to be a hoax.

Police departments in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa and Winnipeg, as well as RCMP detachments in B.C. and Manitoba, were investigating multiple threats.

One busy subway station in downtown Toronto was briefly evacuated Thursday afternoon due to a threat received in the area, but King Station was up and running again within hours.

A spokesman for Toronto police said it wasn’t clear whether that threat, or any of “at least 10” received across the city, were related to those in other locations.

“The problem with that thinking is — if you believe they’re related and this is nonsense — then your investigation suffers and your response suffers,” Const. David Hopkinson said in an interview.

“We know … that a number of other cities have received bomb threats. To us, that doesn’t matter — we will investigate them seriously every time.”

In Montreal, police responded to five emailed bomb threats received by local businesses Thursday afternoon.

Agent Jean-Pierre Brabant, a police spokesman, said the emails were the same as those received elsewhere in North America. They warned in imperfect English that unless $20,000 in Bitcoin was paid, a bomb would go off.

“Each call was taken very seriously,” Brabant said. “We sent police officers to the site, they searched the premises. We found nothing suspicious. There were no explosives.”

It was not necessary to call in the bomb squad, he added.

He said there was nothing connecting the companies, which were spread across the city.

“It appears to be a hoax, but we are not taking any chances,” Brabant said.

The Calgary Police Service said in a statement that the threats received there were “not believed to be credible,” but officers were taking precautions nonetheless.

“The threats are being received by email and they have been sent to various locations throughout the morning,” its statement reads.

“Similar threats are being received across the continent and are believed to be connected.”

Police in Edmonton issued a similar statement, saying they had received several reports of bomb threats emailed to local businesses.

South of the border, a wave of bomb threats emailed to hundreds of schools, businesses and government buildings triggered searches, evacuations and fear. However, there were no signs of explosives, and authorities said the scare appeared to be a crude extortion attempt.

Law enforcement agencies across the U.S. dismissed the threats, saying they were meant to cause disruption and compel recipients into sending money and were not considered credible.

Some of the emails had the subject line: “Think Twice.” They were sent from a spoofed email address. The sender claimed to have had an associate plant a small bomb in the recipient’s building and that the only way to stop him from setting it off was by making an online payment in Bitcoin.

With files from The Associated Press