first college game

[Illinois blue]

I need some advice. I have been doing 8 years of Fed high school softball and will be doing my first Jr. college game this week. Any advice?

[AtlUmpSteve]

The short and the long of it is, there are numerous rules and mechanics differences that you won't get in one post. My advice is relax, get the balls/strikes and safe/out call right, and hope your partner can address anything out of the ordinary.

[JEL]

Softball is Softball!!

As Steve noted there are many rules differences, but then there are differences between ASA and FED. The mechanics differences are not as numerous, and probably won't be a factor unless you are being NCAA evaluated. To get a good grasp, find the thread; 2006 ASA/FED/NCAA rules differences on this forum. There are 13 pages to this. Should be eay to find now that we have a search function again.

Be prepared for some good ball, but also be ready at all times, stuff happens a lot faster at this level, you don't want to be caught asleep! These girls are gonna be sharp!

The extra 3' pitching distance will give you a bit more time to see the pitch, but watch out, it's probably gonna have some movement.

The coaches should also be more knowlegeable of the game than the HS coaches. Many college SB coaches only coach/train/recruit and such, they don't teach. Thet will spend a lot of time learning their craft. Most are also very proffessional in in demeanor, you must be also. Bone up on the FLEX/DP thing, it will be used.

Bottom line is...even though considered adults, you are gonna be calling a bunch of little girls playing ball! They play hard and to win, but they still are out there having fun.

This may be some of the most fun ball you have called!

[whiskers_ump]

Just be in the right position when making the calls. College coaches know, rather most, where umpires should be. You can make the correct call and still get blasted.

Good Luck, and have fun.

[Skahtboi]

These guys have all given you some excellent advice. Also, go to the NCAA website and order the rulebook. There are a lot things done differently between NCAA and NFHS, and the rules differences sheet that JEL mentioned doesn't cover them all.

[JFA67]

Great advice on rules differences, mechanics.
Relax is the first thing. Secondly, depending on the schools involved, it might not be much different than 2 good HS varsity teams. I have worked DI and DIII in my area. Some of the DIII teams I have seen would have a difficult time with the HS teams around here.
JMO

[Skahtboi]

Originally Posted by JFA67

Some of the DIII teams I have seen would have a difficult time with the HS teams around here.
JMO

I think that we have all seen this from time to time.

[Mountaineer]

I would advise you to print the Umpire's Manual from the NCAA. Here's the link:http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/20...ire_manual.pdf

There are updates too for 2005 & 6 available online.

There's a lot of valuable information in there. I actually used it before I ever called my first college game. It's a very easy read and lots of pictures to color!

I would also encourage you to just relax, take your time, be in the right position but most importantly - have fun! We are privileged to call a fantastic game, make sure you enjoy your time out there.

(Except last night when it was about 19 degrees!! Sorry, that was NOT fun!)

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Illinois blue

I need some advice. I have been doing 8 years of Fed high school softball and will be doing my first Jr. college game this week. Any advice?

The biggest difference for me was in dealing with the coaches. It seems that you have to do it a lot more than in HS or ASA ball. The coaches will try to "bait" you with questions or statements and try to get in your head. I always try to take a moment before responding to a coach to try to determine what s/he is really asking.