Well, I would take my uniforms if I had any. Went to pick them up at the cleaners this morning and they "cant find" any of my pants.

That is the LAST thing that I would take to a national and I mean it would never happen. I would also discourage umpires who are assigned to a tournament from taking anyone with them. JMHO

I would offer to lend you mind..... but there is a small size difference...

Let's see....when my wife found out that I was selected for a National in San Diego, her exact words were....

"There is no way you are going to San Diego without me."

Didn't leave me a lot of negotiating room.....

Why? Do you feel spouses would be a distraction?

I've never seen a situation where a spouse puts pressure on the umpire to not be part of the staff when it comes to meetings, training, etc. And they stay away from the umpire area where crews conduct pregame, receive their postgame critiques, change clothes, etc.

Heck, if I took my wife with me to a National, the only time I'd see her is at the hotel for the evenings. She'd drop me off at the complex first thing, and then spend the day shopping, going to the beach, or taking in whatever attractions the host city has to offer. I'd be lucky if she were back at the park to pick me up afterward. :D

Spouses, girl/boyfriends, kids, etc. can be a distraction. If they understand (and many kids may not depending upon age and rearing) and completely disassociate themselves from you until the tournament is over, not a problem. I know a couple who do this without issue. She sits there, never includes herself in a conversation or an event unless invited by someone other than her husband. But she has been a tournament director in the past and is well aware of some of the pitfalls. Not all significant others are that understanding and some simply cannot appreciate that you are not there for them, but for the tournament.

State/metro UICs were read the riot act a few years back about umpires being sent and just showing up with "guests". Well, the hosts were not ready to accommodate more people and their budget is often relatively limited for umpires, especially those coming from outside areas. This type of demand and other complaints from umpires drew some pushback from tournaments hosts this past year when UICs were told that there is no requirement for tournaments to feed or provide entertainment or parties for the umpire staff and to stop complaining about it.

Many host organizations do an outstanding job of taking care of the umpires with an amazing amount of food & drink. Others just don't have it in their budget (and not all tournaments make money) and the umpires have to fend for themselves. Problem is that many umpires have apparently started complaining to the hosts which are mostly volunteers. Well, if you have ever volunteered for anything, you know the last thing you want to hear is somebody bitching to you about something over which you have no control or being dressed down by an organization's rep for not doing things a certain way. Anyone who have been involved has seen the number of required "outside" umpires diminish greatly over the past decade which means if you want a national, you may have to pay for it. I would get any qualified umpire a tournament, but would forewarn them they would have to pick-up the travel. Most umpires used to be eager to do that. Today, not so many to the point in our area, they have started taking umpires that haven't even considered a school, let alone attending one which was unheard of a few years back.

It is my personal opinion that when you are given a national assignment, you are there for one thing and one thing only and that is softball and your mind should be on your game and your fellow umpires.

I know the softball world is changing, but as a tournament UIC I can tell you one of your biggest issues can be competing for the attention of an umpire who is being distracted by an outside concern because it can affect that umpire on the field and the game s/he is working.

As I noted, that is JMHO

The laundry found my pants, so I guess I have uniforms to take to nationals now.

But are they the same size ? :)

Regarding spouses at events.....
I have see it both ways....
Some spouses come along, but you never see them except maybe at an informal get together for dinner after the games.

On the other hand there are the ones that come along and feel free to come up to the umpire area, even bring their kids.. in fact one left het kid up there (after all, it was airconditioned)

It's pretty hard to have a pre or postgame conference with some loudmouth spouse interrupting and joining in...

That's funny Andy, my wife said the EXACT same thing!! And so did my daughter, and she drug her boyfriend along too.

But as Irish said, I do see some issues at Nationals with this. It takes a certain type of family (spouse, kids etc) to make it work. In San Diego we rented a car, one that I saw to and from the fields (some days) and that was about it they (wife daughter and my soon to be son in law) took it and had a great week sight seeing and I spent my time at the park. It worked perfect, no issues at all.

This past week there was an umpire whose wife was with him at a National, never saw her except sitting in her chair watching his games (ok she had a book on her lap a couple times, but she looked like she was watching). As a matter of fact Saturday night at the awards get together and final day assignement meeting she was sitting outside in their vehicle, well till the UIC saw her anyway.

But I do know what you are saying there are and have been issues at many Nationals, heck even just state level events with spouses being where they should not be, and causing general awkwardness. SO I guess I wouldn't be such an absolute as you were in the no spouses / family cause bottom line any of us with a significant others couldn't do what we do if they aren't supportive of us, but I will say the family has to "get it" and clearly understand the time they will and the time they will not get to be involved in their umpires tournament experience.