High School Meetings

[Durham]

I asked this in another spot what i wanted to put it up here in an effort to get us thinking about our pending seasons': What topic would you want a guest speaker to cover in your class. Background, I have been asked to speak on Feb 1 and Feb 8 in 1 of 5 break out meetings in our local High School group. I am interested to know what people would want to learn about in a HS meeting aside from the typical rules discussions.

Thanks!

[MrUmpire]

1. How long are the breakouts?

2. Will breakouts on the 8th be designed with the assumption that the attendees also were present on the 1st?

[nopachunts]

Some random items depending on the level of your audience:
How to conduct a short, concise, yet complete plate meeting.
How to diffuse an irate HC.
How to document an ejection. What to and not to put in the report.
What should be covered in your pregame meeting with partner(s).
How to officiate with the book instead of by the book.
How to prepare yourself before every pitch.
What to do if you are having a bad hair day and need to get back on track ASAP.
How not to throw your partner(s) under the bus.
Umpire etiquette.

[Durham]

Originally Posted by MrUmpire

1. How long are the breakouts?

2. Will breakouts on the 8th be designed with the assumption that the attendees also were present on the 1st?

About an hr and 15 min and yes, same group at both.

[JJ]

Discuss Pregame - fly ball and base coverage; when to go for help; how you will communicate with your partner(s); eye contact, etc.

Discuss having a Postgame review. You get better by knowing what you need to work on, and no postgame review will give you nothing to work on!

Discuss Demeanour and Etiquette - physical appearance; confidence; hustle; how you will handle coaches, players, and fans (as needed); when/if it's appropriate to be "chummy" vs "professional" - and can you be both.

On the high school level I'd beat Pregame to death - a good pregame will save a lot of hassles later on the field.


JJ

[MrUmpire]

I prefer participation based presentations. Minds tend to get numb when being "spoken to."

When we have the opportunity of having a proschool instructor or any other MiLB umpires appear at early association meetings we ask them to start similarily as they do at school, at the beginning.

They discuss and demonstrate proper wearing of uniform and equipment, the importance of playing the "role" of the umpire, followed by demonstrating and practicing with class participation, plate stances, removing masks, the mechanics of calling calls and strikes and safes and outs.

While an outdoor facility would be nice, all of this can be done in a class room, if necessary. It gets people off their chairs and improves the chances of true learning by doing.

In the second session I would practice the base umpire stance, safes and outs again, proper mechanics of calling a balk and perhaps a talk on game management, along the lines of when to keep a manager in the game as opposed to when to facilitate his departure.

These are all things that pro umpires, due to their training and evaluations traditionally do better than amateurs and since most of our member get limited time with pro umpires, this is what we cover most.

[njdevs00cup]

The guest speakers I've enjoyed the most have had a message (be professional, communicate, work together, etc.) and told some great stories to drive the message home. In the past year I've heard keynotes from a high school AD, AA umpire and DI college coach. The bottom line is after the "speech" I wanted to drink a few beers and listen to these guys tell stories about baseball. Just my two cents