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Just where do you think umpires for these games came from before the NCAA got involved in softball officiating?
In many cases, if not most, the schools would contract local associations, many of which were ASA. Not that long ago, the NCAA softball rules were nothing more than an addendum to the ASA rule book.
So, this really isn't something new. ASA registration does include the insurance coverage and I don't see an issue with making a deal with the carrier, Bollinger, Markel or whoever, in including NCAA games as part of the coverage. This would also allow the umpire to register once for both. For that matter (God help me for thinking this out loud), this may be the predecessor to ASA taking insurance "in house".
I can only see a positive for the umpires as it comes to the administrative side of the issue. Obviously, a lot of legalese will be bantered about between the two.
How it turns out on the training side, I'd rather not even guess on that point.
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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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