What are my options

[pob14]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Why in the Wide World of Sports would there EVER be an umpire who's never worked a game in his whole life be assigned to a Varsity HS game?

Happens regularly where I used to work. The alternative would be to have games with NO umpires. Of course, the term "assigned to" doesn't really apply, either; umpires book their own games directly with the ADs.

[archangel]

Pete, I actually agree with you. (the sky is falling, the sky....)

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by PWL

This sounds just like an informal fall ball league, not a regular FED game. I sure the gentleman in the stands helps officiate when no one shows up. Perhaps he has some umpiring credentials. The rookie umpire was more than likely all that was available seeing as how it was fall baseball. I would hardly think this game was sanctioned by the NFHS and was not counted in any standings as such. Doesn't everyone that does FED ball on this forum do games in the spring, when they really count for something?

Good point. It sounds like a "fall ball" or, as we call it here, "coaches league" game, which is very loosey-goosey, and nobody gets too upset with blown calls. We do a whole lot of these games, and sometimes they are one-man affairs. Much of the JV and all Frosh games here are one-man.

If this was a regular season Varsity game, though, I couldn't accept an umpire who had never worked a single game in his life working it.

This concepts of booking games directly thorough the schools, and any freelance umpiring sans association, are totally foreign to me. I would love to live in an area that allows that, because there would be much less politics involved in assignments. Working for assignors, you find yourself at the assignor's mercy when it comes to the games you have to work.

[ctblu40]

The by-laws of my HS association prohibit a member from working a game with someone not a member of the association. Yep, I could be working a 9-10 year old fall game alone and have Gerry Davis offer to help me out on the bases and I'd have to say, "Sorry Gerry, you're not a member of MY board." How goofy is that?

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

This concepts of booking games directly thorough the schools, and any freelance umpiring sans association, are totally foreign to me. I would love to live in an area that allows that, because there would be much less politics involved in assignments.

Maybe yes, maybe no.

I know of several who work this way and some of their experiences differ from what you suppose.

Some have found that dealing with AD's and coaches to get games involve even more politics and good ol' boy networking than dealing with assigners. Those new to the area had even more difficulty breaking in.

Others have told me that AD's and coaches know little about what makes a good umpire and a lot more about who works "their" way. One was permanently banned from a school after a game ending call that kept the home team from the play-offs.

That said, I also know that Rich Fronheiser works this way and seems to enjoy it.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by GarthB

Maybe yes, maybe no.

I know of several who work this way and some of their experiences differ from what you suppose.

Some have found that dealing with AD's and coaches to get games involve even more politics and good ol' boy networking than dealing with assigners. Those new to the area had even more difficulty breaking in.

Others have told me that AD's and coaches know little about what makes a good umpire and a lot more about who works "their" way. One was permanently banned from a school after a game ending call that kept the home team from the play-offs.

That said, I also know that Rich Fronheiser works this way and seems to enjoy it.

I enjoy it only because I am willing to put in the work necessary to build three (football, basketball, baseball) schedules this way. I'm in control. And I spread my work out enough so that I'm not dependent on one assignor. If I have a bad experience at a school, I cross them off the list of schools whose AD's I approach.

I work more games than I would in an association system where I would have to deal with one assigner trying to make it fair for all the members at my level. I take games on the days I want and don't take games on the days I want off, which is important cause I travel for a living.

And yet, it's not all peaches and cream. I got blackballed from a conference here because I threw a couple of (deserved) technicals during basketball games. One the one hand, I haven't gotten any games for that conference. On the other hand, he's only one of a dozen conference assigners I work for and the closest school he assigns is 80 miles away. Maybe it is a good thing.

At the end of the day, you have to be able to point at your body of work and feel good about it. I won't hesitate to punish bad behavior and I work hard at what I do. My crews are some of the highest rated in some conferences in all the sports I work (the commissioners have told me this) -- however there's one conference that won't hire us in basketball cause "he has enough officials." Another probably won't hire us after this year cause I didn't go to his camp. Oh well. I'll never have a shortage of games as long as I have 12-14 people assigning me plus all the schools with their nonconference dates.

[DG]

In my area there are NO high school sanctioned (ie high school pays all expenses) baseball games in the fall. There ARE high school players playing on high school fields with non-high school coaches. It's "club" ball meaning paid for by players, or more likely their parents. The coaches arrange the umpires with people they know. It is very laid back, no pressure on anybody, just an opportunity to play, for the ones who are not playing football. They are usually double headers, and usually 5 inning double headers.

Now if I showed up for games and no partner shows up I would be more likely to suggest that I just work alone than accept a volunteer I know nothing about, who may be working in flip flops for all I know. I don't like working alone but I can do it.