Yep. When I posted that above I wasn't yanking your chain!

Up until a few years ago our meetings were held in a very nice suburban high school. When they jacked up their rental charges, the association looked for something a little more centrally located for our district.

They found a wonderful auditorium that holds about 500, has an excellent sound system in place, plenty of parking and a cheaper price to boot.

And, yes, these meeting really do take place at the Ohio School for the Blind!

(Now, is that appropriate or ironic?)

Sorry, Bret, somehow I skipped over your prior post with that information.

Actually, I'm glad I did because the laugh I got out of seeing in on COBUA's website was great.

Probably makes you sick to know that your rival PA brotheren to the east ONLY have to take the NFHS exam, get a 75, and they're certified to do anything from middle school to varsity! hehe :D

thats great. I dont have a problem going to the classes but going for a 6 hour mechanics session and possbily a live varsity scrimmage is a pain in the ***. hopefully like these people are saying, I wont have to do the live scrimmage.

2 hour association meeting/state clinic, 6-2 hour local clinics, and 3-live scrimmages. That's about 20 hours, and standard around here. Veterans and new umpires (1-2 years) attend scrimmages. The new umpires work the games and the veterans generally give advice in a structured manner, ie a veteran leader assigned for each game to document participation, coordinate umpire rotation from plate to base, etc. Verterans may only get an inning or half inning of work due to new umpires getting most of the time, as it should be. When 6 umpires are assigned to a scrimmage and 3 of them are new, they get most of the work.

that isnt ohio is it?

I would think that if you want to improve then working the live scrimmage is a good start. There will be experienced umpires there to evaluate you and help you work on problem areas in your work.


Tim.

I don't feel that doing a varsity game is appropriate to do. I say that because I am only doing 8-12 year olds for this year. And at $45 for an hour and a half why would I want to do varsity now? I will probably take the varisty classes next year though.

If all you plan on working are 12U games why would you want to certify as a HS umpire in the State of Ohio? Are the youth games you work assigned through a HS association?


Tim.

I just went to OHSAA to get certified, andthey gave me a list of instructors. I will probably end up doing Junior high ball. I didn't think there was another way to get certified.

A couple of things to add from another central Ohioan. While you do not have to join an association your first year, it is usually worth it to join. It will help with keeping live on training and finding additional games. As a current High School student you will not be able to do Varsity until you graduate anyway so don't sweat it. You will have a great part time job in college that beats working at Wendy's or White Castle.

My High School son got his volleyball license last year and usually does grade school games. He has worked an occasional freshman match with me.

Don't think of your training meetings as how many I have to go to but rather how many I get to go to. Take advantage of every opportunity to get better from asking other officials and this wonderful group on the board.

Good Luck, those Pickerington parents can be tough.

Thanks. iplan on doing this throughout college. ya everyone here is so freaking egotistical. Everyone thinks that heir son will be the next Ken Griffey Jr., so if you call a strike on them and it isn't a foul ball then I should be put in jail. Lol.

It just gripes my butt when a local school system wants to charge any amount to use a building, or a ballfield, that ain't doing anything at the time, that in the long run the usage benefits the school system. I would rather meet in an open field in a blizzard than pay for the umpires to use a tax payer supported facility for a fee.

I wouldn't

Kansas only requires one rules meeting and a 90% on the NFHS test.(Open book)Of course, I don't think I've seen any middle schools with baseball either. Quite eye opening seeing the strict requirements in other states.