Come be a part of a great association
Thought you would like to umpire but wasn't sure how to go about getting signed up. Well now is your chance to give it a try. You must first understand that not everyone is cut out to be an umpire. It takes a strong love for the game as well as professionalism. As an umpire you must become a student of the game and then realize that the game is not about you.
You ask what makes a good umpire? Well the main requirements for an umpire to remember are:
* Know the rules.
* Make good calls.
* Be decisive.
Know the Rules
Let's start with knowing the rules. Softballl has a lot of rules. They are written down in a rules book. Additionally, there are both fast and slow pitch rules. You may decide to do one or both. Also, modifications to the rules—"local rules"—that are to be used locally.Here's what I've learned about rules as a 35 year veteran of the game. Rules must be:
* Written down. If it isn't written down in an official place, or it is not a rule.
* Communicated broadly. The more people who know the rules, the less arguing that will happen. Notice that I said "less," as umpiring still involves a large amount of arguing over what I call judgment and interpretation of the rules; but we'll get to that, later on.
* Reviewed and updated periodically. In my experience rules must change. I want to emphasize a few things here. Periodically im the rules of softball are talked about (and changes are made)sometimes every year, based on experience from the previous year.
An experience implies that we know something that we did not before, or that we recognize now that something is different from before, and this is usually what causes a rules change. Changes occur usaually at the annual meeting or shortly after. Rules do not change in the middle of a season, as that would cause chaos. We live with the rules for this season, and then do something about them before the next season. In AFA we try very hard not to make changes unless they are absolutely needed and then there will be an ammendment sheet to the book for 1 year.
Make Good Calls
Let's jump to the second requirement of good umpiring, which is to make good calls. As an umpire, it is important to position yourself to be able to see what is happening. If something blocks your vision, you can't see what has happened. Umpires know where they need to be to give themselves a good perspective of the play. This allows them an unobstructed view of what is occurring.
Whenever something happens in softball, from an umpire's mindset, one of three things is going to result:
* Bad—You don't know the rules, and, although you see what is happening, you make the wrong call.
* Bad—You know the rules, but you were in a bad position to see what has happened, so that you make a bad call.
* Good—You know the rules; you see what has happened, so that you make a good call.
Now, let's get to the arguing part. I have found over the years that arguments happen for two main reasons:
(a) somebody doesn't know the rule and is arguing with you out of ignorance or
(b) they know the rules, and they are questioning your judgment with regard to what has occurred and how the rules should have been applied.
Argument type (a) is easy: If they request have the tournament director or league commissioner clarify the rule for them. (You see why rules must be written down?)
Argument (b) is more difficult: it leads us to the third requirement of good umpiring.
Be Decisive
Let's say that there is a close play and that the umpire hesitates, he then, weakly shows the "safe" sign, and then, weakly vocalizes, his safe call. If you were the defenses coach and thought that the runner was out, would you argue with this umpire? Now, let's take the same situation; but, this time the umpire quickly and with authority flashes his arms to give the "safe" sign, and with a loud and assertive voice yells, Safe! How likely are you to argue with this umpire? No where near as likely.
In real life, arguments can still happen. But in my experience people argue with umpires who act decisively much less than they do with the unsure ones. The reason is simple: unsure umps could be persuaded to change their minds so that arguers think that they can get them to change and get the calls reversed in their favor. You know that you are not going to change a decisive call by an assertive umpire, so that an argument there is simply venting.
We have only touched on what you can and will have to learn to be a good umpire. Ask about clinics in your state or national clinics you can sign up for. There is much to learn from qualified umpire instructors. Your state director should have a list of umpire clinic dates or you can contact your U.I.C. in your state.
