National Umpire School in NC
 

Anyone going? My understanding is that it will be in Cary, NC, sometime in January. I've already told my UIC that I intend to go, and I was just wondering if anyone else has any plans to go.

From information recently circulated:

It will be held the weekend of January 19-20, 2008, in Cary, N. C. beginning promptly at 9:00 am. The school will be conducted at Middle Creek Community Center, 123 Middle Creek Park Avenue, Apex, N. C. 27539. Cost of the school is $80.00 and checks should be made payable to North Carolina ASA.

Instructors for this year’s school are:
Dick Gayler, Regional UIC
Kevin Ryan, Supervisor of Umpires
Mark Ingrao, Regional UIC

I'll be attending the one that's being held in Northern VA being held in January.

I've been thinking about going to the NC one or the one in Plant City, FL -- Where is Cary? Is is closer to Georgia or Virginia?

That would have some bearing on whether I go or not

It's just next to Raleigh, NC, which is roughly in the middle of the state, but slightly closer to Virginia.

Try this Mapquest link.

I believe it's being held at Middle Creek Park, which is a pretty decent park. If anyone needs directions, let me know.

I'm planning on attending. Hopefully with a bunch of other Charlotte area umpires.

Jeff "FOZZIE" Merriman

Cary is about 2 to 2-1/2 hours closer to you than Plant City. However, the weather might be better in central Florida in mid-January!!

Bah! Cold weather? No such thing in North Carolina. ;)

Then again, I'm from Wisconsin, so my view of what's actually "cold" is a little skewed.:cool:

Not ASA

There is the ASA/USA Coaches Clinic?? But no ASA National Umpire School, according to the National ASA site.

At our last association meeting it was mentioned that the National Umpire School would hold a weekend session in Northern Virginia sometime in January 2008. As of now the dates have not been posted on our website or arbiter. I just left a voicemail requesting further information from our UIC.

Totally possible. I'd heard rumblings about the NC school as far back as September or October, but didn't want to jump the gun and say anything about it here until I knew it was official (I got the confirmation this last weekend). But if the VA school is true, they'd better get crackin' and get it set up ASAP. They've got less than two months! :)

I can assure you that there is no ASA National School in Region 3 this year.

There is, however, a Central Atlantic Regional Umpire Clinic, most likely in MD (but you never know, location has not been locked in yet) on the first weekend in February, 2/2 & 2/3.

The last two years it was in Dulles, VA area (Holiday Inn) on the third weekend of January. It was moved there from a traditional March date to avoid college schedules. Turns out that the umpire associations dealing with the NCAA decided to move their "clinics" to the last couple of weekends in January, hence the change to the first weekend in Feb.

Got feedback lat night from my UIC and the ASA clinic I mentioned is a regional clinic and will be held the first weekend in February in the Sterling Virginia area. Sorry for any confusion.

Hmmmm. It was in Sterling in 2005 & 2006, in Dulles last year and was supposed to move into MD this year. Guess I shouldn't be surprised they went back to the familiar territory.

I am not a registered ASA umpire. Can I still attend the school??

That is probably up to the school coordinator. Contact NC UIC Phil King, or Commissioner Tony Laws.

IMO, the training is not a copyright activity, like the rulebook or uniforms. If it were my school (which it isn't), my gut call is yes, so long as you don't bump an ASA umpire from attending.

I agree with Steve's reasoning, however, I would disagree with allowing it.

To begin, like in many other areas, I have to compete for umpires. It is bad enough when a registered ASA umpire takes the training I provide and works for the competition when I need him for a tournament, I certainly am not going to do the competition's job without at least getting a registration and possible availabitlity out of it.

Yes, I know that sounds selfish, but I need to cover games for ASA, not train umpires to make it easier for the competition to draw umpires and teams away.

And then there is the issue of liability.

Why not???:confused:

Yes you can! Just pay your money.
I have been at several schools with Kevin Ryan as an instructor. Very funny and very good instructor.

[QUOTE=IRISHMAFIA]I agree with Steve's reasoning, however, I would disagree with allowing it.

To begin, like in many other areas, I have to compete for umpires. It is bad enough when a registered ASA umpire takes the training I provide and works for the competition when I need him for a tournament, I certainly am not going to do the competition's job without at least getting a registration and possible availabitlity out of it.

Irish makes a very good point here. As umpires we are really independent contractors, able to sell our services to any organization. We can not expect to get free training without recipricating in kind. I pay my dues to the local ASA chapter every year AND in addition pay for any national schools I attend.

I have never gotten free training from any organization, be it ASA, USSSA, or NCAA. I have paid for every school/clinic I have attended.

Our local umps attend "free" trainings in the spring before the local seasons kick off. They're encouraged to attend the state clinics, but they're not mandatory if all they're going to call is rec ball.

Fortunately, the free trainings are quite good, as the trainers are solid, national level umpires who know how to teach.

As for tcblue13's question, I agree with Steve. Call Phil. If you need his contact info, let me know.

And with the exception of our state school, all ASA training in my state are free of charge. Clinics are open to anyone who cares to attend as they concentrate on rules and some mechanics (75%/25%).

As for the full day mechanics school, there is a $20 charge which includes a school shirt (quality T with embossed logo).

I will open it up to non-registered umpires, but will register them prior to the school.

[QUOTE=IRISHMAFIA]And with the exception of our state school, all ASA training in my state are free of charge. Clinics are open to anyone who cares to attend as they concentrate on rules and some mechanics (75%/25%).

There is a difference between "no charge" and "free". My local annual ASA dues are $105. That covers my membership and an annual no charge clinic. I pay an additional charge to attend National Schools. My only point is that I would not like to see someone attend the local clinic or a national school without having to pay both local dues and school fees. I don't thonk that would be fair to the local membership.

But your rate isn't going to go down if you do not utilize the clinic. I will register umpires of a local softball organization (daddy volunteers) at a very reduced rate, but they will not work any games other than their own league games which do not use anything other than volunteers.

The state association includes a provision in it's by-laws that requires umpires to belong to a local association in order to be assigned games, so the umpires are protected.

What you're talking about is fine. I'm talking about members of other associations. In my area we compete for leagues and tournaments by bid with USSSA, NSA, etc. I would not want to see the ASA training their umpires.

Just wanting to refresh this post, as the deadline is getting near. I spoke with Phil yesterday, and the school is still on. The more we have, the better the class will be. :)

If anyone needs directions or contact info, please let me know.

Now, there is a myth. That would all depend on the instructor-to-student ratio. I've met quite a few people who believed (and it is a viable complaint) that they were cheated by an over-booked school.

I believe the standard is no more than 25 students per instructor, yet there have been schools in the past that got well over 100 without adding help.

Having been on the planning committee for the 2006 NUS in Seattle - the one they all talk about breaking the records with 276 students - bigger was not better. I also tallied all of the evaluations, and the biggest complaints were:

(a) Not enough time to repeat drills. Too many students in each group meant less cycles through the drills
(b) Student to instructor ratio was too high. We supplimented the NUS with local staff to help out, but the students prefered to be taught by NUS, NOT locals.

There were multiple lessons learned, but those were the big ones. One good thing that came out of it is that because of the size and the lessons that were learned, it became a teaching experience in and of itself to the NUS on how a school should (or shouldn't) be run.

(We did, however, have enough beer for hospitality... went through 4 kegs in 2 days with that crowd! - and yes, that was my responsibility... :D )

For those who are going to attend, I spoke with Phil King (NC UIC) today about the weather at about 3 PM. NC is expecting some possible bad weather (well, bad for this area, anyway) on Saturday.

However, according to what he said to me at 3 PM today, the National Umpire School is still going to be held. We'll most likely be indoors, but the school will still be held.

Just thought I'd relay that bit of info to those who plan on attending.

The Suspense Is Killing Us!!!
 

So..... what happened & did it go well??:o

I think it went very well. We had 55 umpires from around the US - NC, SC, GA, TN, and even one from NY, plus Phil, BJ, and Tony. Larry and Dick taught the class, and put us through our paces. We stayed indoors the entire time due to the weather outside (the fields were nowhere near being in condition), which made it a little difficult to get the feel of just how far to be to call the play. However, I don't think it would take much for any umpire to take that experience and use it well on the field.

It even gave a SP-only umpire like myself the chance to get in behind a catcher and call some FP/MP pitches, exposing myself to the FP/MP slot. How often does an umpire get the chance to do so without being in an actual game situation?

It was my first NUS, and if given the opportunity, I'd gladly do it again. I think it's well worth the relatively minimal cost. If any umpire has the opportunity to go to a National Umpire School, and they're on the fence about it, I say, "GO!" You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

To the instructors, if you're on this forum - you're welcome back anytime, and we all appreciate the hard work and energy you put into making the school happen!

To all the organizers who made it happen - a huge "thank you!" These schools don't happen by themselves.