Quote:
Originally Posted by greymule
Most umpires I know agree that, at least as a general rule, the higher the level, the easier it is to officiate.
The semipro baseball I used to do was much easier than youth ball. College and high-level travel softball is far easier to work than rec league ball.
I can't even imagine umpiring 6-year-olds. The whole idea that kids that age can create any semblance of a real ball game is absurd. They need instruction and tightly controlled scrimmages, not sham competition.
And how do you evaluate an umpire who does 6-year-olds? Consistent strike zone? Mechanics? Rules knowledge?
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Couldn't agree more with this damn yankee.
I was lucky to the point that I got some help from the two adults working the same baseball league when I was 14. But that was only suggestions on mechanics, nothing on how to deal with the a@@holes.
I find it amusing when umpires proudly state "I don't do anything below (enter level here)". Grey is absolutely correct, the higher the level, the easier the game. All the crap about the "big boys" in SP being the whiners and criers is, IMO, just that, crap. Yeah, you may hear a little bit, but when it is over, it's over. I hear more inane BS at the local league level in one game than I have heard in all the nationals I have worked.
I'm not putting lesser experienced umpires at the lower levels. The 10U is where you need an umpire who can think and understand that if there is anyplace to employ common sense, this is it. I don't make any secret that if I ask an umpire to work 10U, it isn't due to lack of trust, but the confidence I have in the umpire.
6U & 8U should not be competitive ball. Of course, you have places in the softball world where people are still falling for the "scholarship" scam and go looking for a hitting/pitching coach right after their DD gets accepted to the local up-scale day care center.
