National Tournament Weekend

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by okla21fan

The only negative was that the TD decided to follow 'code' and not compensate the UC.

Just out of curiosity, who does get compensated during tournament play besides the umpires? Do the TDs? How about other "admin" type folks who do things like maintain the brackets and schedules, operate the scoreboards, etc.

Yeah, I'm sure being a UC is painful. But if nobody else involved in running the tournament gets compensated, it wouldn't be right for the UC to get something, would it?

Don't get me wrong; I'm certainly not against the UC receiving something for his/her services. It's simply a matter of fairness and equitability, in my mind.

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by Manny A

Just out of curiosity, who does get compensated during tournament play besides the umpires? Do the TDs? How about other "admin" type folks who do things like maintain the brackets and schedules, operate the scoreboards, etc...

I would imagine it depends on the tournament. Here, it is not uncommon for the field prep teams to get paid (easier to get crews, who do a better job - typically high school age kids - than trying to round up volunteers). I don't know about TD's etc., but most (all?) of these tournaments are making money for somebody!

If the money is made by the local softball association, and people want to volunteer their time to help said local association, great. But volunteering should be (ahem) voluntary.

Umpiring is a professional skill, so paying for it seems reasonable to me. If a tournament wants to try going with volunteer UICs (or even volunteer umpires), nothing is stopping them. But, make no mistake, the money saved will be going to somebody.

[ASA Ump MN]

The UIC gets paid the most, the Assistant UIC gets the 2nd most, I want to say it's about half of the UIC compensation and the UC job is almost always a volunteer position.

[Andy]

I was paid for my services as the UC, but only because our local association has a policy that the UC will be paid for any National Tournaments hosted by our association. It's just another cost of running the tournament

Wasn't much...worked out to about a dollar an hour for all of the time I spent before and during the tournament.

By ASA code, the UIC and the ASA rep are paid a defined amount. The code also requires official scorekeeepers, but does not say they must be paid. I have worked as a scorekeeper at a National Tournament twice and was paid for one and volunteered for the other. Our scorekeepers this past weekend were volunteers.

Some National Tournaments are run by a City Parks and Rec department. In that case, I tournament may not make money, but the city sees an increase in sales tax revenue from the hotel rooms, restaurants, stores, etc., which more than makes up for the cost of the tournament.

[Big Slick]

Originally Posted by Andy

By ASA code, the UIC and the ASA rep are paid a defined amount.

Unless it has changed, when I was the UIC for an Eastern National (2009), the UIC fee was ZERO. However, there was a decent per Diem.

I did not inquire as to what my UC was paid.

[IRISHMAFIA]

It's all in the code:

B. Umpire Expense. Umpire expenses must include the following:
01. Game fees for Adult Fast Pitch, Junior Olympic Fast Pitch and Modified Pitch shall be a minimum of $25.00 per game. Game Fees for Adult Slow Pitch shall be a minimum of $20.00 per game and Game Fees for Junior Olympic slow pitch shall be a minimum of $16.00 per game. The number of umpires to be assigned per game is addressed in Article 510 ( R ) of the this code.
02. Housing accommodations. Two umpires to a room.
03. Housing, local transportation for UIC and $100.00 per diem/per day for the tournament umpire-in-chief. The UIC shall arrive one day prior to the scheduled opening day of the Championship.
04. Housing, local transportation and $50.00 per diem/per day for the assistant tournament umpire-in-chief when one is assigned, see Article 310 ( C ) ( 02 )( a ), Article 310 ( C )( 02 )( b ),and Article 310 ( C )( 02 )( c ), Umpires-In-Chief, of this Code.
05. The UIC and Assistant UIC( s ) ( if assigned ) may share a room if deemed necessary by the Tournament Host Committee.

[NDblue]

Why is it that Host Rotation umpires don't get any travel expenses paid? I just made a 24 hour round trip to Hastings, NE and all I got was my room paid for. Any umpire fees I received were eaten up by fuel costs. Luckily, we were fed.