[BretMan]

The state meeting is mandatory each year to retain your permit. This meeting covers NFHS and OHSAA rule changes for the upcoming season as well as any new rule interpretations that will be in place.

It usually lasts less than an hour. The biggest headache is fighting the traffic involved with a thousand people coming and going to one auditorium! The OHSAA holds the baseball and softball meetings in separate sessions on the same night.

A couple of other things that might interest you:

Have you checked out the "Central Ohio Baseball Umpires Association" website? Some of your questions might be answered there. Once you become a member and are activated on the website, there is a lot of training information available there, as well as a contact list for all COBUA memebers. They also post Power Point presentations that recap the items covered in each of the weekly meetings.

Have you been to "Fleming's Referee and Sport"? We are lucky to have a dedicated umpire equipment store here in town, a luxury not many umpires have. You can try on equipment before buying it and they carry all of the official OHSAA uniforms and gear. This store is located near the Sawmill Road and I-270 interchange. They also have a website.

One more thing: Don't be intimidated about the scrimmage games that are offered for field training of new umpires. These are strictly scrimmage games and the coaches and players know that the rookie umpires are there for training. Typically, you would only work a couple of innings behind the plate and then on the bases, rotating in and out with other trainees. It is a valuable training session. No one is going to jump down your throat if you make a mistake. If you're not careful you might learn something!