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Here are a few excerpts from their rule book that are of interest:
K. No one except the first base and the third base coaches, and the batter and the player "on deck", are allowed outside of the dugout. All other coaches are required to remain in their dugouts.
We encourage and expect our umpires, coaches and league directors to be professional at all times and be willing to discuss game situations in a civil exchange. However, once a game has started, the Umpire-in-chief for that game has the final determination on all calls and rule interpretations. After a final determination is made, appeals or further discussions of rule interpretations should be conducted after the game with the appropriate board member and should not occur in front of the players and parents.
For rules that are not covered within their rule book, OBR rules apply. My interpretation and the one that has always been given to me in regards to a catcher is that either a mitt or nothing at all shall be used. The mitt can either be a first baseman's mitt or a catcher's mitt but has to be a mitt.
There is no maximum or minimum rule on how many coaches are allowed. The way it is written is that each coach present must be listed on the lineup card in the press box (the only reason this is done is for pitching reasons as all the coaches are penalized if a pitching rule is violated).
I brought up the situation of the coaches wanting to be outside the dugout after I saw the trend develop. The response I received was that we as umpires are not there to play baby sitter to the coaches. I asked about what the rule states, and the response I received was that the coach goes out of the dugout at their own risk and that there are more important things for us to worry about but if that is a rule I wanted to enforce so be it.
To me, no one rule is more important than another. If I as the umpire let this rule slide, why should I enforce other rules? The main concern for me though, is that there is not a lot of foul territory and there are 5 buckets sitting in the filed of play that poses a safety concern to the players. I do not know about you all, but I do not feel like seeing a kid crash into one and hurt themselves.
As mentioned earlier, this is my first year in this area. In my previous location, I officiated youth ball (which was Little League) in order to help my local league out. Little League is also where I first began umpiring and I enjoyed training and helping new umpires develop. Over the years I enjoyed doing these younger levels so upon moving I thought a game here and there would be fun. In the area I am in now it seems as if the umpires are there for their $40 a game cash and that is what matters most to them. It seems as if the game is more about the coaches than about letting the kids play and it is sad to watch at times. I started off umpiring in this location as it was the closest to my house. I have since started doing games at a location ~20 minutes away, however the UIC supports the umpires and the coaches are a bit more tame.
For the life of me, I can not figure out why these coaches feel as if they have to be sitting right beside their catcher to signal pitches or why they have to be standing on the foul line to talk to their infield and outfield. I lay blame squarely on the umpires. If all umpires enforced the coaches being in the dugout they would not even attempt to sit on their buckets 15ft outside. However when a leash is given, these coaches try and see how far it will go. Youth baseball is for the kids, not the coaches.
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