[cowbyfan1]

Take it from someone who was the umpire coordinator of a "little league" where I have about 21 teens out of about 26 umpires. The kids think of how slow the kids throw and that they have not realized that they are indeed mortal. Not matter how much I get into their ear, a couple of them will not wear anything but a cup and mask. A number of them will go without the shinguards and/or plate shoes. Also they just flat out do not want to spend the money. I get stuck between a rock and a hard place with it because I need the kids to call. When you have a league with 52 teams playing on 9 fields at 2 different sites, you need warm bodies.
Also some do not care about learning to umpire. They want the money. The ones that really wanted to learn were give more assignments. At $20-$25 a game with an hour fifty time limit, that is not too bad of money for them.