Little League Umpire Clinic
Hello all. Sorry for not posting anything over the weekend, but I was in a Little League Umpire clinic all weekend long.
After many hours in a classroom and on a ball field, I have a new and great respect for what these folks do. The comment was made that "the public is willing to accept 60 to 80 percent accuracy in all things, expect in little league baseball umpires. Then and only then, does the public demand one hundred percent accuracy on every call". Whew!
What have I gotten myself into?
May the Lord give me wisdom (to remember all the rules), a sharp eye (to clearly see the play), a deaf ear (to ignore the less then kind comments from the parents and fans) and bold determination (because I need all the help I can get), to ump these young players to the best of my abilities.
Amen!!
posted by Steve | 3/06/2006 07:02:00 AM
3 Comments:
JIL, I know I have told you that my husband is a police officer, but he is also an official. He started calling Little League when he was 14 years old and eventually went on to professional umpire school in Cocoa Beach Florida. He never went pro, but only because he felt he should stay near his family. (We actually have a close friend who recently retired as a professional American League umpire). My husband called local college and high school baseball up until about 2 years ago with the birth of our second son. He also refereed basketball 4 nights a week. Now, he had narrowed his offical career to being a Friday night high school referee - hes the man with the white hat. I have heard him say many times that the Little League parents are worse than the high school and college parents. While we werent married when he called Little League games, I can sympathize with you because I have seen high school parents who act more like children than there kids. I am telling you all this to say that while there are a lot of rules to the game, but there are alot of opportunities to witness because of the number of people you come into contact with and I know that you will do just that. I will pray that you will be able to learn the rules as well as show some kids and parents Jesus through your actions - knock it out of the park!!!!
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, if you wear glasses or not......the parents will question your eyesight and say nasty things about you - be prepared.
Beth,
Thank you so much for the kind words and especially for your prayers. I know I will make mistakes, but I hope to learn it well enough to make very few mistakes.
As you might have guessed from this blog, I don't really care what people say about me, but I do care very much for all people.
I hope that eveyone will be able to look at me, not only on the field, but everywhere and see God in me.
I do wear glasses and I expect a lot of comments about that. :-)
God Bless You!
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