What Other Sports do you work?

[ASA/NYSSOBLUE]

This has probably been asked before, but it has been a while if it has....

Me, I did softball exclusively up until four years ago..until....my ASA assignor had been bugging me for a couple of years to go into hs volleyball, which is a fall sport around here. He kept saying, 'Ya gotta do volleyball...ya GOT to do volleyball - modified (7th/8th grade) volleyball is STEALING! I finally gave in, took the insanely hard course - we get the NCAA rule book/mechanics - and started volleyball. BOY WAS HE EVER RIGHT!

You have to understand that at the 7th/8th grade level, 90% of the kids are literally just learning the sport...and about half the coaches , too! So most of the matches do not even come close to straining your rule knowledge, and since the coaches are either ignorant, or are actually concentrating on their kids learning, you basically are there babysitting, PLUS - in our area, u end up working a fair percentage of your matches alone. PLUS - in our area we work three different counties, and in one of the counties, 90% of the time, you walk in the gym, and the first thing you get asked is, "You mind working a double match?" After much arm twisting, you of course agree. Match time is 4:30, but you have be there at 4 for pregame and warm ups.

So...second match I ever worked, I was by myself, We started the match at about 4:25....and I walked out of their at 5pm SHARP - all for the same fee we get around here for the same level of softball -sweating it out on the field for two hours! I keep saying I felt like Willie Sutton walking out of a bank! A couple of weeks later, our assignor - who is part of the same school administrative/co-op group which assigns all the sports in the area - calls me to see if I wanted to work up in that 'special' county. I said sure...ended up working a double match BY MYSELF....and ended up getting a fee of....$178 for about an hour and a half of 'work'.. You bet I made damn sure to make myself available for that area the next year!

[NCASAUmp]

I used to call volleyball back in college (back when I still played, too). Absolutely love the game. Been thinking about going back into it.

[wadeintothem]

None, I've been invited to a football crew for a few years and really want to do it but their clinic is on the same weekend as nats... and that sucks. I think I would like to give that a try. I've also thought about doing some lame thing like HS volleyball for money... seem like quite a few umps steal money by doing volleyball.

[Andy]

Ok, guys...volleyball is not as easy as it looks....

I think we are all in agreement with our dislike of the fair/foul, ball/strike, safe out umpire. If you get into VB with the idea of stealing money, that's the kind of VB official you will be.

I have done HS VB for about 15 years now. Obviously, it is not very physically taxing, but it is every bit as mentally draining as any other sport I have worked. When played at a good HS level or above, the game moves quickly, you have to know which players are front row and which players are back row, you have to be able to look at the way a team is standing on the court before the serve and instantly know whether each player in the position they are supposed to be in, and make a judgement on every single contact of the ball.

One of the frequent posters on the VB board says: "It's only easy if you choose not to do it right!"

[IRISHMAFIA]

I worked the little ball for 22 years before moving over to softball.

Have been recruited to work football, but there are not enough yellow flags on the planet to get me through a game.

Have worked professional skiing. That is the same as softball, men are a bunch of whiners and the women just go out to beat the mountain and course.

[3SPORT]

User name says it all. I work football, basketball and softball. Where I live there are no opportunities for very much fall or winter softball, so I work football and basketball.

Football is the most fun but also the most time consuming on a per game basis. A Friday night game gets you to the game site 1.5 hrs before the game, the game is 2.5 hrs and then to travel home after for around $60. Unless you do youth games, not a lot of dh's in football.

Basketball good excersise and a good way to train your game management skills.

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by Andy

Ok, guys...volleyball is not as easy as it looks....

For me, it's not that hard to call vball. I played it for 12 years locally and in tourneys running a 6-2 or a 5-1 until I tore my rotator cuff. It's just second nature if you know the game.

[Skahtboi]

I have been hearing that "you gotta call volleyball" comment for about a decade now, from several different sources. However, it is a sport I have absolutely zero interest in, therefore, I don't officiate it. The ease of the money means nothing to me. That isn't why I officiate. (Don't get me wrong, I like the extra spending money, but it isn't my primary motivation to umpire.) As a matter of fact, about the only other sport besides diamond sports I would have the least little bit of motivation to officiate would be hockey, and in Texas, there isn't a huge demand for hockey officials, especially ones that aren't real proficient skaters!

[RadioBlue]

I started doing baseball 27 years ago and then slow-pitch two years later. At the time, I had little interest in doing fast-pitch softball but was eventually talked into it. I'm glad i was talked into it since I've had the great fortune to work some big games including three high school state finals, six ASA nationals (including an 18&U championship plate), & NJCAA Div. II National Championships.

After spending close to 15 years broadcasting HS football play-by-play, I got out of the radio business and decided to officiate football. I love it!! I'm in my 5th season of working football (3rd year on a varsity crew).

Last year, I started working some grade school basketball. (Believe it, or not: with my wife's blessing.)

I keep my officiating to two days per week. It helps me stay balanced and keeps me from burning out.

The best part of all is the great people I've met through officiating!

[CecilOne]

SB - 23rd yr, Soccer - 19th yr, prev BBall 10 yr, prev LL 5 yr
Currently only HS soccer, a few years of USSF until I didn't need to tolerate the AA anymore.
Same for 18 years of slow pitch along with the late hours.
Basketball was both HS and leagues, not well rated and was coaching at the same time, so cut back.

[Welpe]

Baseball, football and softball. I've been considering getting into basketball but we'll see.

After just moving, I'm slowly getting reestablished and reevaluating which sports I want to continue working.

Been doing softball (solely slow-pitch now though I did start out doing both slow and fast-pitch) for a total of 17 years now. Have done basketball for a total of 13 years, and football 7 years. Used to do baseball for about 7 years, but gave it up because it was tiresome running from driver's ed assignments to baseball games with little time to spare (and the overtime in driver's ed beat the heck out of the paltry sum I was getting in baseball).

[umpirebob71]

Softball, slow-pitch, and football.