6U Coach gone wild

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by greymule

Most umpires I know agree that, at least as a general rule, the higher the level, the easier it is to officiate.

The semipro baseball I used to do was much easier than youth ball. College and high-level travel softball is far easier to work than rec league ball.

I can't even imagine umpiring 6-year-olds. The whole idea that kids that age can create any semblance of a real ball game is absurd. They need instruction and tightly controlled scrimmages, not sham competition.

And how do you evaluate an umpire who does 6-year-olds? Consistent strike zone? Mechanics? Rules knowledge?

Couldn't agree more with this damn yankee.

I was lucky to the point that I got some help from the two adults working the same baseball league when I was 14. But that was only suggestions on mechanics, nothing on how to deal with the a@@holes.

I find it amusing when umpires proudly state "I don't do anything below (enter level here)". Grey is absolutely correct, the higher the level, the easier the game. All the crap about the "big boys" in SP being the whiners and criers is, IMO, just that, crap. Yeah, you may hear a little bit, but when it is over, it's over. I hear more inane BS at the local league level in one game than I have heard in all the nationals I have worked.

I'm not putting lesser experienced umpires at the lower levels. The 10U is where you need an umpire who can think and understand that if there is anyplace to employ common sense, this is it. I don't make any secret that if I ask an umpire to work 10U, it isn't due to lack of trust, but the confidence I have in the umpire.

6U & 8U should not be competitive ball. Of course, you have places in the softball world where people are still falling for the "scholarship" scam and go looking for a hitting/pitching coach right after their DD gets accepted to the local up-scale day care center.

[vcblue]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

6U & 8U should not be competitive ball. Of course, you have places in the softball world where people are still falling for the "scholarship" scam and go looking for a hitting/pitcher coach right after their DD gets accepted to the local up-scale day care center.

Yep... and this team was from one of the upper-middle class to upper class towns playing in a lower middle class to poor community.

[Stat-Man]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

6U & 8U should not be competitive ball. Of course, you have places in the softball world where people are still falling for the "scholarship" scam and go looking for a hitting/pitching coach right after their DD gets accepted to the local up-scale day care center.

I'm waiting for the day people start demanding 2U leagues.

But seriously, I agree with you on the instruction nature of U6/U8 ball. My grade school started a 2nd & 3rd grade instructional intramural league and I officiated for 2 seasons (only because my rules knowedge was regarded as better than anyone elses). I was told to pretty much ignore the occasional travel, double dribble, etc, but to make sure nothing major happened. In season two, I was also told that the kids were being taught not to reach in, so I should call any reach-in foul so to reinforce what they were learning.

To expect kids at that level to play as well as higher levels is just not goin to happen.

[rwest]

Originally Posted by Stat-Man

I'm waiting for the day people start demanding 2U leagues.

But seriously, I agree with you on the instruction nature of U6/U8 ball. My grade school started a 2nd & 3rd grade instructional intramural league and I officiated for 2 seasons (only because my rules knowedge was regarded as better than anyone elses). I was told to pretty much ignore the occasional travel, double dribble, etc, but to make sure nothing major happened. In season two, I was also told that the kids were being taught not to reach in, so I should call any reach-in foul so to reinforce what they were learning.

To expect kids at that level to play as well as higher levels is just not goin to happen.

This is one of the myths of basketball. There is no such foul in basketball as a reach-in, no matter what you hear from fans or commentators. They can reach in all day long. If they make contact with the ball or the hand on the ball, don't blow your whistle. If they hit the arm from the wrist up or have to push through the player to get to the ball, then we have a foul. But it is not a reach in foul. It is either illegal use of the hands or a push.