Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch Alex
The Neth.'s are a small country in Europe. You all know that fact. We have a very small softball-community in Holland and in Europe as a whole. Most coaches and players know the umpires by name. Some of them have friendship- (or worse: family-) relations with the umpires. The dutch umpires are advised by the national federation not to accept players and/or coaches as "friend" on the social media. For the different forums we are advised to stay away. This international umpireforum is the only one I'm active on and not even under full name. Although frequent readers, familiar with the dutch softball-community can figure out who I am.
The worst thing we umpires can lose is our good-name. People might indeed think we are bias. So, yes, the best thing is to be more than very careful what to write.
During a game I always call the coaches "Coach", even if (s)he is a friend outside the ballpark... I know you all do that as I do it. So why shouldn't we do it as well on the social media?
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I'm in the same situation. I'm in a small state and just about everyone in the softball community knows each other off the field as well as on the field. I often have players and coaches call me by name even though I ask them not to do so. I use their name only when necessary, if at all.
If I had to decline games or defer decisions based on familiarity, I'd just as well lock myself in my house because that would be the only way to do my job.
But I can guarantee there i no one in my area that will have cause of accusing me of favoring one team/player over another.