What is a LL Umpire

[Dave Hensley]

Originally Posted by PeteBooth

Therefore guys/ gals exactly what is meant by the term LL Umpire?

Pete Booth

I may not be able to capture the essence of the Little League umpire, but in the immortal words of the late Justice Potter Stewart, "I know it when I see it."

The serious comment I wanted to make about the LL umpire program, and what I see as its greatest failing, is its orientation towards pushing the select few up through the ranks to make it to state, regionals and the holy grail, the LLWS. LL has done a great thing in establishing regional umpire schools in each of its 8 US regions, but the schools have largely turned into inbred good-ol-boy fraternities of instructors and their small cliques of repeat students, geared primarily towards organizing the postseason assignment career ladders of those chosen few. What the schools SHOULD be turning out are certified Little League umpire clinicians - guys who are trained and qualified and equipped to go back to their local leagues and lead the development of a REAL umpire program at their local and district level.

The schools are turning out better and better tournament umpires, as confirmed by what most observers would agree is a gradual improvement in the quality of the umpires working the TV games in each of the last several years. But that's where it ends - the LL TV umpires are the window dressing of a program that still, at the local level, is dominated by guys with backward caps and shinguards on the outside of their jeans.

It's sad that such a great opportunity has been largely squandered.