You must be new to this.

The way this "umpire" is equipped, I thought that he was doing men's "slo-pitch" softball.

People, this kid is doing HARDBALL with no chest protector, shin guards, plate shoes and probably no cup! I don't care what level he is doing, he's behind the batter!
And you all wonder why I cannot stand LL baseball! No one is watching out for this kid! The BOD in this league and the UIC are obviously a bunch of non-caring a$$holes!

Besides having no gear he is getting horrible advice from an adult ump. He is saying not to toss as a kid, try to be calm and keep them in the game. He was saying that if you toss them you will have to deal with them later. I'm a firm believer that it doesn't matter how old the ump is, if the coach steps over the line then he leaves. Yes, you will have to deal with them later and if he thinks he can walk over you then he will. If he knows you won't put up when his BS then he won't be as likely to start.

ozzy6900,
I dunno if that's Little League or not, but might that game have been played with one of those softer cushyballs?

Regardless, you are probably right about the BOD, they very well could be non-caring. :(
mick

Take it from someone who was the umpire coordinator of a "little league" where I have about 21 teens out of about 26 umpires. The kids think of how slow the kids throw and that they have not realized that they are indeed mortal. Not matter how much I get into their ear, a couple of them will not wear anything but a cup and mask. A number of them will go without the shinguards and/or plate shoes. Also they just flat out do not want to spend the money. I get stuck between a rock and a hard place with it because I need the kids to call. When you have a league with 52 teams playing on 9 fields at 2 different sites, you need warm bodies.
Also some do not care about learning to umpire. They want the money. The ones that really wanted to learn were give more assignments. At $20-$25 a game with an hour fifty time limit, that is not too bad of money for them.

Wow, when I was UIC of my LL there was a balloon protector, shin guards and mask, in every equipment box, at every field, for the umpires. This was along with bases and rakes.

The League bought them, and it was the coaches responsibility to make sure they were on the field for each game. But even it the League does'nt buy them , maybe you can purchase them as a group.

Just a suggestion.

In my mind, all this 'they dont want to buy them' jack will vanish the instant one of those kids is seriously injured by an errant ball, esp if proper equipment would have saved them. The lawyers will be on your league like white on rice......esp when minors are involved.

"Bend over, insert lawsuit"