Anyone here call fastpitch softball??
I just started calling High School last week. With my first games being a long Saturday Tourney. 9am til 11:40pm
Enjoyed it but boy was it some kind of hot. It's been about 9 years since I've stepped on a field and you bet I felt it the next day and the next and even the next.
If there's any more fastpitch blues let me know..
Thanks Ronnie

There are a ton of us here Ronnie............

Welcome.................you will find some extremely friendly guys/gals here...................

I only called 180 games this year..........(one of my slower years because of Tournament rainouts).......

BUT...........I still have Fall Ball to look forward to.................:D

The regular umpires on this board have probably 30,000+ games under their belt (combined)..........

Soooooooo...........blast away.........we have probably seen it before........

My first rule............."Have Fun"..........

Joel



[Edited by Gulf Coast Blue on Aug 23rd, 2002 at 09:44 PM]

Ronnie,
Joel's right, most of the folks here work fastpitch and under a whole lot of different sanctioning bodies. I know there is a handful of states that have high school ball in the fall. Which one are you in.

BEGIN EDITING
Since I see we're all listing what sanctioning bodies we follow, I thought maybe I'd list mine, too.
Softball
ASA, NFHS in Pa that's PIAA, NCAA
I am the chapter interp for both my ASA and PIAA chapters
Baseball
PIAA, American Legion, Adult wood bat leagues

Steve M

[Edited by Steve M on Aug 24th, 2002 at 05:53 PM]

I call ASA and NFHS Fastpitch in Georgia when I not on hiatus for poor health. My daughter is on a JV team. Where are you located, Ronnie?

:):):)

accurate,

Welcome aboard http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/pirate.gifladie.

As stated by previous colleagues http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/jump.gif we all
do fast pitch for various associations. However, there are
some that only do slow-pitch, but they are good people also,
and have contributed greatly to our education of the softball
world. Good luck and keep us posted [pun huh?],

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/Gif/papa.gif
glen
[AFA, ASA, NFHS, USSSA, LL[softball only]

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/lolup.gif

Step away from the smilie site Glen! You are having waaaaayyyy too much fun with those!

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/winky.gif

Ronnie...I call nothing but FP anymore. I work under the auspices of such organizations as NFHS, ASA, USSSA, and Dixie. I gave up calling slowpitch about a year and a half ago, and swore that I would never go back again. Besides, here in North Texas there is plenty of FP to keep an umpire busy from February all the way through October at least.

Scott

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/wavey.gif

Welcome, Ronnie.

I only call fast pitch - ASA mostly with some NFHS.

Ronnie,

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/compute.gifcheck out this website. It is one of our groups and
has a handfull of information. Especially in the handout
section.

http://www.eteamz.com/sites/GCBUimpre

A Must for http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/newbie.gif's

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/Gif/papa.gif
glen

Sorry Scott, but things are slow and I don't call until next
week. Things pick up then.
http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/cheezysmile.gif

Thank You All !!!!!!!!
 

I call in South Ga where there is not a whole lot of fast pitch. There are a handful of teams who have been playing more than two years and the others are new. It's alot different than i'm used to. I haven't called in about 9 years so this association looks at me as sorta new. Doesn't matter right now but I had a chance to prove myself this past weekend at a tourney. The uic told me he had never seen anyone like me that wouldn't slow down. I told him that I have always tried my best to be in the best position possible.
I wanted to call ball here earlier but my city just went fastpitch and the slowpitch is a joke, well, meaning I've always been accustomed to stepping on the field looking my very best as well as being my best. When the umpire shows up in jean shorts and looks like everyone else????? You tell me.. am I being too whatever or do any agree?? An umpire I think should set themselves apart from the rest.

I think after this year I'll reach out and try to call more fast and slow pitch. I also want to get into baseball.

I will be posting some questions soon and I thank all of you for the welcome.. I think this is just one of the neatest things about the net,, being able to share this sorta stuff when otherwise, you wouldn't.

Thanks again Ronnie

Re: Thank You All !!!!!!!!
 

Right you are Ronnie. We should always present the best image possible when we are working an assignment. A lot of people don't realize that everytime they walk onto a field, they are representing the entire profession for their area. We should always strive to look our absolute best, making sure that the uniform we wear is neat and to specification. Another thing that a lot of these "relaxed" types of umpires don't realize, and that is it is a fact that sports officials who look the part, take pride in their appearance and how they carry and conduct themselves, are much less likely to have a call questioned than one of the "good ol boys" who are just out there for a quick buck.

Scott

Hi

I also umpire fast pitch as well--this was my first year.


I agree with what has been said about appearing professional. This weekend, we had the Gus Macker 3-on-3 basketball tournament. At the most competetive court, there are always licensed officials wearing stripes. This year, just guys in T-shirts. They did a fine job (actually, a pretty darn good job), but I think they may have lost some respect from the players as they did not "look" official.

Just my 2 cents.....

Diana

Ronnie,
I agree. I heard this and said this for as long as I've seriously umpired. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. If you take the field looking like the perfect umpire - uniform and conduct - you just bought yourself a couple of innings of pretty much hassle free umpiring. After that, you'll have to earn it. On the other hand, the guys in the basketball game you mentioned may have been the best refs ever, but they looked like bozo the clown & crew and got that kind of respect.

Steve M

Welcome Ronnie,

I'm here in Delaware, so our Fastpitch doesn't start until March. Then it's still cold and wet.

NCAA, ASA, NFHS for me. been doing it for 15 years. Some slow pitch, but usually leave the premadonas for Mike.

Bob

Looking professional
 

Around here, we don't get guys/gals who show up completely out of uniform, but still, we have a bunch who put little effort into looking sharp. Some of the things that annoy me are sweat-stained hats, unofficial hats, unshined shoes (I don't mean "just didn't get it done this time" unshined, but "haven't been shined since they left the factory" unshined), non-regulation shoes (i.e. with white trim). Even had one girth-challenged female umpire wear skin-tight, tapered leg pants - sure, they were the right color, but they looked ridiculous. (Don't misunderstand - I have nothing against girth-challenged umpires - that category would include me - but let's at least TRY to look professional and not like some parent out of the stands.)

It takes just 5% more effort to look professional. Not putting out that effort tells me the umpire is not serious about his/her job.

<b>DAKOTA WRITES..........(I don't mean "just didn't get it done this time" unshined, but "haven't been shined since they left the factory" unshined)</b>

I already have all my shoes shined for Fall Ball...........and it is 3 weeks away...........grin

I am not going to have all my pants pressed beforehand though.......they still have pretty good creases from Post Season.........

Joel

I'm telling you Bob...leave those primadonnas and come on down here to Texas, where by March we are a full month into the fast pitch season. You can call from Feb. straight through until at least Oct. But, hey, if you are making the trip, bring Mike along too. I have long since been trying to convince him of the virtues of our fair state.

Joel....I am just the opposite. A little over two weeks away from the start of fall ball, all my pants are neatly pressed and hanging in the closet along side the entire fleet of shirts. All of my shoes, however, look exactly the way they did the last time I walked off of a ball field. (Matter of fact, they are probably still in the equipment bag.) I will probably get around to shining them up about two weeks from this Friday. Needless to say, the first games of the fall season will be on the following Saturday!

Scott

Hey
If Mike & Bob are heading down there, I'll stop by & ride down with them.

Steve M

Well heck, Steve, come on along!

Scott

Skahtboi,

I have an uncle in Baytown, How far is that from you??? I haven't been there in many,many years.

Most of my relatives live in Louisiana.

Mike????, Steve????? I can take a few weeks off work, sounds like a road trip to me.

Bob

No thanks, Scott. I can get just as bored doing FP here as I can in Texas.

Besides, I understand the Rio Grande is changing it's flow toward the North. Hell, by next season, you may all be Mexican :)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by IRISHMAFIA
[B]Hey, Mike! If that's the case, I guess all of us Texas Blues can get gigs calling winter ball! http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/Gif/WBSpeedy.gif

Bob:

Baytown is more down Joel's way, about 5 or 6 hours from me! I am up in the northern part of the state, just north of Dallas.

Scott

Baytown is closer to Joel, but only by about 15 miles.
We can definately utilize the likes of you gentlemen down
this way. The first major tournament is the Lady Cajun
College Classic Oct 4-6. They, USL, will be utilizing our
new complex to host this event. Next tourney would be
19-20 Oct. ASA type, then in Nov. two AFA tourneys. Dec.
we have 2 AFA qualifiers and one in Jan.

So, "Come on Down". BTW, all my shoes are shined, shirts
[even the Red ones}cleaned. {last remark is reference to
a post on another board that some of you may have seen. We,
AFA, do utilize the Red. Always for the 18U Nats champion-
ship game. http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/smilie/biggrin3.gif

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/Gif/papa.gif
glen

Baytown is actually pretty close.........only about 50 miles from me...........

I have driven through it about a dozen or so times this summer driving up (over?) to Beaumont for Softball..........

I have a couple of extra beds and 2 couches if anyone needs..........(as long as you don't snore louder than me).........

And for Mike........I am good friends with the both the District SP UIC and the Asst. UIC............so I am sure I could get some games for you too............grin

Joel

<i>On a side note.........DO NOT drive 75 mph behind an 18 wheeler on I-10 in the summer.........they peel tires like crazy.........I did once this summer.........and it cost me a tire/rim/$1,400 in damage to my car).........

I have fixed the tire and rim problem.......but I don't have full coverage on my car............so the damage to my front right fender has yet to be fixed.........the tire guy I used in Baytown told me that there are usually a couple of deaths per year in his stretch of I-10 due to 18 wheelers losing tread.......

IOW..........no matter where you are........be wary when traveling behind a Semi on a HOT HWY.......</i>