NSA Umpire Clinic
 

Any of you attending the NSA Umpire Clinic in Charlottesville VA tomorrow?

;) Having watched the NSA Guys work in this area I didn't know they had clinics.

I will be in Raleigh working ball.

I felt the same way while at the PONY Nationals in Ohio last year.

:)
As soon as I saw the title of the thread....

Why I'm I picturing Bobcat Goldthwait in Police Academy

"Now this is the proper way to eat a jelly doughnut"

I wonder if Ric Flair is going to be there...

Can't speak for other areas, but, in Georgia, that is an oxymoron.

Nothing against NSA, but I'll probably never figure out how to do their strike mechanic... or their ball mechanic... and that safe mechanic, thats a toughie.. and I'm sure I'd drop my brush tossing it up at least 50% of the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x8hucA3QIU

Maybe I need an NSA clinic.

Umm...
:eek:

Doubt any clinic could help you. Perhaps finding a youtube video of a NSA umpire could help. A clue for you would be: They wear black NSA hats, white shirts with a NSA logo, and when wearing a jacket, it would be black with a NSA logo.

I was unable to locate any of these alleged mythical creatures, other than a couple of beer league slow pitch vids... I gave it the old college try though. If you got one, I'll take a look!

Actually, this is a HS umpire working an Indiana HS playoff game a couple years ago. Julie J showed this at either the Central Atlantic Regional or UIC Clinic last year.

I know, thats exactly who I got the video from. I'm just goofin with the NSA guys.

That is downright shameful.

I guess I should not be surprised that the video is from Indiana. There are a lot of good umpires here, but there are many more that are lacking in their knowledge of mechanics. I was at our northern Indiana ASA umpire clinic yesterday, and I have an ASA school this weekend, but when it comes to NFHS...well, they really don't offer any training, though you are supposed to go to a half day clinic if you are working the playoffs.

I read posts where people talk about taking the NFHS tests several times, perhaps even every year, but here in Indiana, you take the test one time, and if you pass then you're qualified to work games for as long as you keep sending in your registration each year. They suggest getting training from your local association, but I've been a member of three different ones, and their meetings almost always digress into war story sessions for the old-timers. Most of the umpires work different sports since the season is so short up here, and they really don't spend ten or eleven months out of the year studying softball. Heck, even I don't. I officiate volleyball also and spend three months each year studying that sport.

The video is painful to watch, but for me it's not any more painful than watching my daughter's high school games. It's hard for me to bite my tongue. I'll see Julie on Thursday so I'll let her know that her video was a nice discussion point. I remember her showing us another video at both an ASA clinic and an ASA school two years ago. It was from a TV comedy show where the main character was trying out umpiring for the first time. Now THAT was funny. Just thinking about that guy pointing to the base umpire on a play at the plate makes me laugh every time.