POLL ON UMPIRING

Why is there a shortage of good.........
umpires?
coaches?
teachers?

In order to be successful in either of these endeavors an individual must be passionate about what they are doing and have a genuine concern and care for the kids as well as the future of every kid they are fortunate enough to influence.

Sadly, as money is constantly mentioned, the only thing many adults are passionate about and care about is themselves.

The true level of care for the kids will always be evident in the job performance.

 

If you've read any of my opinions on this board, it all begins with training. The number of people that are dressing up in umpire clothing, is enough to cover the games; now whether they are capable, well, thats another issue that can only be resolved with REQUIRED training. As for high school, all Chapel Hill requires is that the booking agent put on some kind of training, (but there is no set format or definition an what they need to be training), and that they take the exam. But failing the exam doesn't keep them from umpiring, just umpiring "Post-season". The other thing that irritates me, are the ones that go out and believe that everyone, including the "good-looking" moms, are there to watch them. We even nicknamed one at the high school level, "Hollywood". I am always offering my staff and myself to help train these people the right way, it's up to ya'll to demand a change. And again, if you want to know about what our officials go through, just ask WndMillR, we've held a camp at his place.

 

Middle School umps

Want to have fun with umpires? Coach at a middle school! We seem to always get the newbies. Is that by design?

Having said that, there are some really good ones who really care about the game and doing their best. They stick out like a sore thumb and we do go out of our way to let them know what a great job they are doing. Unfortunately, those ones don't seem to stay around long. I guess they get moved up...

We actually had one ump that would physically jump back on every pitch, even on a change up. We happen to have a good catcher and he kept thanking her for stopping all of the balls so he wouldn't get hit. We did ask the booking agent to re-evaluate this umps ability to be behind the plate. Not sure how he would be in the field...

We also have one ump (that we always seem to get in our biggest games...) who I think really wants to be a coach. He goes out of his way to tell the girls how to play a position, swing the bat, bunt, etc. No kidding!

Okay, one last one...

We had one umpire that was horrible. It was so bad that all we could do was laugh at the calls he was making. As with everyone else, we have some passionate parents and they were going nuts. This umpire actually told us (the coaches) that he would throw us out of the game if the parents didn't quiet down. That comment was meant with a LOT of laughter to his face. Again, we reported this to the booking agent and were told he would not ump middle school games anymore. Low and behold, about 5 weeks later, he was ump'ing my oldest DD's HS game!!! Oh, and he hadn't changed...

 

YES IT IS!!!! He honestly thinks people come out there to watch him call games. But seriously, he's a detriment to the game itself. And super sadly he is considered to be good. Go figure.

 

Money

I agree with your first paragraph completely but your second one is not true for all! Many people would love to coach but the "money" paid at most HS and colleges is not enough for a family man or woman to provide for their family. Many of us that do travel ball have good jobs that allow us the opportunity to get time off so we can assist our girls, others are not as blessed. My eyes have been opened over the past few years and I have total admiration for the coaching and teaching profession as I believe the majority do it out of love for the kids and because they want them to succeed. They certainly are not going to get rich unless they are at big time schools with highly successful programs.
Umpires! I agree that many are not up to par and could use schooling and supervision, as well as feedback! But would U take the job? You have coaches, players, and fans constantly on your back! Someone is always mad about a call or outcome of a game and the umpire is the scape goat on many occassions when the players or coach should be taking the heat. Pay is revelative to the risk of the job and the expenses U pay out of those benefits. May not be as great as it is portrayed on this site. Look I have been disappointed many times by calls made but usually both teams suffer the same situation so it is my job to try and adapt to the game they call. NCUMP has some good thoughts about training but some is sales job which I do not blame him for doing.
Just treat these umpires and coaches the way U want to be treated in your job. All will be better for it.
Said I would not post again, sorry but this was a subject I felt like I had to say something.

 

Too many baseball umps

About 3 years ago I had an AAU ump tell me regardless of what I thought, "A girl" pitching underhand could not make a ball break! My only thought. What is this clown doing behind the plate?

 

Listen to your Mom

This is exactly why your MOM told you you should keep Clean underware on! Thanks Mom.