On Sunday, I spent 4 and ½ hours with four colleagues, training nearly 40 youth umpires who were between the ages of 13-17. It was a beautiful day, with comfortable temperatures. There were two sets of umpires. The first set was made up of nearly 30 new umpires who had little or no experience. For these umpires we spent the first hour training them on the basics of plate and base umpiring. For the next two hour we were able to provide them with real game experience by umpiring two scrimmages of four 9 and under travel baseball teams.
Each new umpire was able to umpire at least one inning behind the plate and one inning on the bases. A trainer was assigned to observe and provide on field instruction. I was coordinating everything, so I was jumping between the fields making sure things were going smoothly. I was able to take some videos of some of the umpires while they were working the plate. Showing the kids videos of how they did was very helpful.
The kids were like sponges as they were trying to absorb what we were teaching them and then trying to put it into practice under game conditions. I was amazed at how well the young umpires did.
The second group of kids were a little older and had a couple of years of experience umpiring. There were only eight umpires, so we assigned four umpires to each of the two scrimmages. They were to work in pairs and rotate after each inning. They were to take charge just like it was a real game, and we would watch and observe and provide feedback after each inning. Most of these kids I recognized from last year’s clinic, so it was great to see them again.
Some of these umpires were very good. It was easy to see that they were working to get better. An inning didn’t go by without a teachable moment. Again, the umpires were willing recipients of our suggestions. As the day went on, we mixed things up. Instead of us giving them feedback we had them ask their partner for feedback about specific things, such as timing of the calls, communication, positioning, etc. They found it was much better getting and giving feedback from their partner, than it was just getting feedback from us. If something was not covered through the partner feedback, we provided the additional feedback.
We were trying to emphasize the importance of constant improvement. We shared how five minutes of postgame debriefing goes a long way in making for better umpires. It should become part of their routine.
During the day, we had a few instances where coaches came onto the field to question calls. Rather than interceding, we let the young umpires handle it and then debriefed with them immediately following. Fortunately, none of the kids got discouraged by the coaches questioning the calls or asking them to appeal a call.
It was encouraging to see so many young kids willing to give umpiring a try. It is important that we increase the number of kids and young adults who are taking up umpiring/officiating. There is a major shortage throughout the country for all sports. More officials are retiring or getting out of the business than are getting into the business. The number one reason, officials are getting out of the business is the behavior of parents and coaches, especially at the younger ages. We have a saying in officiating that is a truism, “the younger the players, the worse the parents and the coaches.” As the kids get older, the coaches are usually more experienced, and the parents have figured it out that the officials are not out to get their team or their kid.
I was reminded of the problems of officiating by a “tweet” I received earlier today from my good friend Mike Snyder. Here is the wording of the tweet from Tate Moore @CaochMooreHoops. “I reffed 10 AAU girls’ games this weekend as they couldn’t find anyone else—–the last one ended in a fight where parents came onto the court, a player got smacked, punches were thrown and a coach grabbed an opposing player. I see why there is a ref shortage. Take me off the list.”
Per his profile, Tate Moore is a 7th grade language arts teacher at Lakeview Jr. High and head girls’ basketball coach and assistant athletic director at Granville High School in Ohio.
When you attend your next sporting event, remember to respect the officials. They are a team out there just like the two teams that are competing. Without officials, there would not be high school sports, travel sports, or local recreational sports. The athletic field is the official’s place of employment. They are doing their job. The next time you yell at an official, ask yourself how you would like it if someone came to your place of employment and started yelling at you because they thought you made a mistake.
Pray for peace and tolerance. What are you doing to stop the violence? Get vaccinated and get your booster.
Orchid of the Day: Javy Baez, Detroit Tiger shortstop, for his two-run monster homerun in the 8th inning tonight give the Tigers and 3-1 win over the Boston Red Sox.
Onion of the Day: The Russian military and Putin for the continual targeting of civilians.
Quote of the Day: “I would rather get stuck with bomb disposal than reffing any KIDS sports game. Every game should start with a PSA, “Most of your kids suck at this, they are not special. They are just as sh**ty as you and will never play pro sports or got to school on a full ride.” OXCART replying to Tate Moore’s “tweet” from above.
Video of the Day: Javy Baez game winning homerun today. This ball was hit hard.