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Joel,
Remember, for NT & NC, the umpire is also getting housing, transportation and, quite often, being fed and treated to some decent perks.
The problem is when there is a flux in teams and they need to draw from local umpires to fill the tournament.
In some of those areas, local umpires have 2-3 NC under their belt in their first 5 years if they are a half-decent umpire. Meanwhile, a little state like DE presently gets a NC billit every other year, maybe. We are lucky enough to have some veteran umpires who can get an "at large" bid based on their experience and our commissioner goes out and gets a couple host exchange slots each year. If it wasn't for that, there would be nothing for our umpires to work toward.
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The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
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