[RPatrino]

All, I'm just relaying my impressions of my experience working LL ball, from Minors through Big League. A lot of the decisions are made at the District and Regional HQ level, and each Region makes their own picks for Regional level umpires. I have not seen an umpire selected for the Western Regional games that didn't attended a clinic in San Bernandino. That may not the case in other Regions, or even the 'rule' in the Western Region.

I was not advocating nor evaluating the quality of the training or the graduates of the week long school in the Western Region. I have worked with some of the very best umpires and some of the very worst umpires in LL. I agree with Brian, however, that 'attending' a training does not equate to being qualified.