Slowpitch softball men, women and coed

Question
Dr Ambrose,

I am a new umpire just starting out. I took the test and passed but realize I have a lot to learn.  What advice would you give to someone just starting?  I have umpired the season opening 1 pitch tourney and was pretty uneventful.  I start regular season tonight and want to do a good job and make the right calls. Mainly I do not want to look like an idiot. :)

Thanks in advance,

Rick

Answer
Hi Rick,

I think it's great you want to be an umpire, now the work begins....:)...not kidding!

First of all you need to decide what kind of umpire do you want to be....in it for the money, just ok, not bad, decent, good, pretty good, darn good, on par and respected by the best (you get an honorary title w/ this, it's called "strong" and you've made the club)

Ok I'm going to assume you want to be the best you can be.  Like anything it is a question of talent, work ethic, knowledge and training.  It will take years (don't be depressed this is journey) for you to become....."It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby......The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad. He wished that he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him. "  The Velveteen Rabbit


The best umpires, umpire because they love to umpire, no kidding...it's not the money, they want to umpire.  In most tournies I've umpired or UICed, which is alot, I lose money.  

1) Tell your UIC your serious and want to learn, they will help you

2)Put the rule book in the bathroom..I'm serious, that's what you read when you're in there.  I can't tell you how many times I've read the rule book.  Or read it during you lunch break or whatever, but read it every day.  Read every q and a in this forum and other umpire forums.  Do searches on obstruction, interference, BOO, force plays, timing plays. etc, etc. read them and learn.

3)  Find a mentor, find a strong umpire(s) in your area and just go sit and watch them umpire, it will take you a while NOT to watch the game but rather the umpire(s).  After a while you'll get the hang of it.  Introduce yourself and tell them why you're there....later on you'll want to ask if you can partner w/ them for free, yes no pay to do the game w/ them.  It is rare for me to know an ASA umpire that's at that level who would refuse you. (One of my own proteges is on the the verge of becoming an "elite" umpire, I'm very proud).

4) go to every class and school you can.  For right now just do the ASA district and states, later you want to look at a national school.  Introduce yourself to the staff there, let them know you're serious.

5) when your ready (and your UIC thinks your ready) do every tournament you can, you'll learn more in a weekend than in a year w/out it.  When I was UIC I threw my people in early as long as I could protect them w/ a strong partner and the class was OK.  If you have the talent, etc you might even find another mentor w/ the state staff.  One of mine was a hall of fame umpire that gave me my first championship assignment, he berated me (privately for the most part), yelled (softly, kind of, he didn't need to raise his voice) at me, slapped me around (mentally) but taught me, taught me, taught me. He is a big man and one of my best moments is when all 6'3" 275lbs came up chest to chest w/ me after a tournie game and said "Ambrose...you are FINALLY a god dam- home plate umpire."  Work hard and those days will come.

let's see study, work hard, accept criticism (humility), learn from your mistakes, seek out people who can help you.....anything else maybe some strong umpires will add to this.

Mark