Hello, I am new to the forum. I am interested in becoming an umpire. I am hoping that I can tap some of your experience. In your opinions, what is the best way to get started? Would you recommend starting out at the LL level to get my feet wet and then look to move up to Jr High and High school and Jr Colleges?

Depends on what is available in your area, the quality of the organizations, etc. However, I would recommend starting with Fed, where you can do middle school and JV to start, and then get some varsity games as you improve. The Fed training and preparation is usually good, too. I've never (officially) umpired LL, so I can't be much help there. I suspect LL is <i>harder</i> to ump than upper levels, though.

getting started
 

Greymule, by Fed can I assume you mean the local Federation? I live in So Cal so I guess that would be CIF (california interscholastic federation)

Locodad

FED
 

FED is the National Federation of High Schools

Contact a local high school athletic director or baseball coach. They will have local contact information for the umpire association that services their games.

And hurry. We need you.

[Edited by GarthB on Mar 5th, 2003 at 03:27 PM]

thanks
 

Thanks Garth, I will give them a holler. Do most Jr High Schools use the same umpire associations as the high schools they feed?

Yes.

<i> Originally posted by locodad </i>

<b> Hello, I am new to the forum. I am interested in becoming an umpire. I am hoping that I can tap some of your experience. In your opinions, what is the best way to get started? Would you recommend starting out at the LL level to get my feet wet and then look to move up to Jr High and High school and Jr Colleges? </b>

The first consideration is your work schedule. Can you get out of work at around 3 PM to do HS games which start around 4 - 4:30?

Even if your work schedule doesn't allow you to do HS games I still recommend getting at least HS certified so that you can umpire in the summer where the games are more conducive to one's work schedule.

For insurance reasons, it's best to get HS certified so that you can get plenty of games in the summer. Your HS insurance does not cover you if you work with an official who isn't certified.

I recommend starting out at LL or some "other" youth organization close to your area. That's where I started and IMO the experience helps because in LL you will see all sorts of things so your rules knowledge will be tested. Also, that's the place to make mistakes and learn.

In addition, the LL Regional clinics are not that expensive to attend. I think the cost is roughly $150 - $175 for 5 days of training. Some LL organizations pick up some of the cost.

The next thing is your personal goals and how they fit in with the family goals. Umpiring is a COMMITTMENT and there are many hours involved. For example; if you get assigned a Double Dip for the most part that day is shot as far as doing anything else.

Welcome to the club and good luck!

Pete Booth

LL Regional Umpires Camp
 

For the Western Region is $200/week. Covers room and board as well as training. There are some weekend clinics available in our area and they run about $95-100/clinic. Washington State District 4 Little League puts on a rules clinic and a mechanics clinic or two that are free.

I have started with Little League and have learned a lot. Of course, I'm just a second class umpire, though. :-) (Sorry guys...couldn't resist!).