How do you get umps for LL ?

[bethsdad]

Sorry this is not a rule question. The town I live in plays LL then ASA once the girls are a little older. During LL it is hard to find qualified umps because they do High school and ASA first. It gets very frustrating coaching games where you never know what rules they will be calling that day. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting more qualified umps ? Thanks Brian

[Edited by bethsdad on Nov 22nd, 2003 at 11:35 AM]

[SC Ump]

This past year I got back into LL after having only done "higher" level ball since 1996. I am seriously considering getting out of it again, mainly because of the obnoxious behavior of many of the coaches and parents. I would suggest that if you want to attract more qualified umpires, that the first efforts should be on the demeanor of the league.

"But," you say, "how can you say it's the demeanor of the league when you've never even seen our league. We have nothing but polite, well-informed, courteous participants and parents who do nothing but exemplify sportsmanship."

Hummmm.... I couldn't help but notice that even in your post you took a jab at the umpires that have been helping you out, as though these problems were all there fault. If you have atttacted high school level umpires and if they are calling improper rules, then perhaps the question should be either (a) how can I better communicate to an umpire the particular set of rules that I need for them to execute?, or (b) how can I better communicate to the coaches the proper way to execute a protest when a rule is misapplied?

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally posted by bethsdad
Sorry this is not a rule question. The town I live in plays LL then ASA once the girls are a little older. During LL it is hard to find qualified umps because they do High school and ASA first. It gets very frustrating coaching games where you never know what rules they will be calling that day. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting more qualified umps ? Thanks Brian

[Edited by bethsdad on Nov 22nd, 2003 at 11:35 AM]

Get your own umpires. As long as you use umpires from outside organizations, you are more likely to get the rules with which they are familiar.

LL softball is basically a family thing, so get the families involved. Get mom and dad out of the concession stand and on the field a night a week. Obviously, you would need to hold clinics, but this is what you need to do to attain what you desire.

If that doesn't work, offer a higher rate of pay than ASA & HS. That will give the umpires the incentive to give your rules a priority.

I can tell you from experience, this isn't something that is easily done.

[DaveASA/FED]

Along with Irish's statment parents are a good way to get umpires. It helps with a lot of problems. If they are out there having to umpire and they can then see that it is not that easy, they have to be in position, and there are some things you can see better on the field than sitting on the bench, or concession stand. This is also, sometimes a good way to get people started umpiring. This is how I got started, and now I am UIC of the softball league. So it can turn into a mutually enjoyable experience. As Irish poointed out you will need to have training to give them a clue!!!!!!!

Also one thing I have seen done is to require that the coaches umpire some games. What our boys league does is to have the major league coaches umpire some of the minor league games and the minors ump the major games. This helps so that a coach doesn't make a bad call toward a team in their league that they are competing against. Also it helps the minor league coaches to learn the rules faster!! Again training is key but it makes them care more and they seem to get off each others backs as they "have been there".
Just another idea, goods and bads to it.