Thanks
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I really like umping. I have 3 boys (2, 4 and 8) who all love baseball, and like phillycheese said I expect to get many more years of experience enjoying my kids' games from behind home plate!
My league didn't provide any training, other than a 2 hour rules meeting. I'm going to seek out training with nearby leagues and through other means. Reflecting on last night I know that my position behind the plate wasn't "locked down." I need to learn good mechanics. I don't think that affected my calls too much though--these are eight-year- olds and it ain't too hard to call a pitch behind the batter's back a ball, no matter what your position! And I know I was consistent. I know that the coaches were a bit ticked too because they thought I was pushing them along too fast between innings (they changed pitchers between almost every inning and wanted time to warm up their pitchers between innings). I pushed them to be ready to play with 1-2 minutes. And you know what? It was the 1st game that completed the full six innings in the 2-hr time limit.
Thanks again.
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