[WindyCityBlue]

Bob Copus is and AOA and UMPS guy. He was the President before Dave.

He gets his baseball schedule from UMPS, though.

Bob Jenkins is an AOA, FVB and UMPS guy. He has done multiple Sectionals and is a moderator here. Bob J. is currently our Vice President.

Believe it or not, I've worked with him. He's a pretty good umpire.

Tim Kiefer who is the webmaster of the AOA and IACAO and worked with me at the JUCO All-Star game (in the middle of the picture) and is an AOA and UMPS member. He recieved his first playoff game this year as well.

Does AOA assign Tim's high school baseball games?

And finally Dave Alstadt is a IHSA Baseball Clinician and a D1 Umpire.
Another good guy and pretty good umpire. Doe she get his games from FVB or AOA? Did you read the post where FVB9 told you to shut up? Apparently he doesn't need or want your help with FVB.

So, I guess the bottom line is what can my organization do for me that I can't do myself? The Chicago area has conferences that contract for all of their schools in that particular sport. Since these conferences only work with 2 or three associations, you need to find one that is convenient to where you live and work, gives you the best games for your ability and provides the support you'll need to get recognized. FVB does this well for the far Northwest suburbs. UMPS does it very well in the near north and western suburbs. Since we also handle a few City schools, we have a pretty large area of dominance.
To Jurassic Ump: Recruiting and retention is what association do. If you have never sat on a Board and had the responsibility of procuring new officials because more schools want your group, then you wouldn't understand. UMPS is the biggest, oldest and most accomplished umpires group in Illinois. Our reputation for producing the best involves turning over every stone looking for the next diamond. It also involves reminding others of why we have a better product. If that disturbs you, then you shouldn't watch TV for the next few months. The election will probably kill you.

Find a group you like, and pay the dues. It really is not that difficult to figure out.