Reminder – the annual CCSUA/Assignors meeting will be held on January 24 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. You must register for this meeting. You have been sent emails with the link to register and the link to this on-line Zoom meeting. You can also find these links in an article posted to the Locker Room – CCSUA/Assignors annual meeting 2021. Note: we continue to get emails, texts, and phone calls asking for information which has previously been sent to everybody through the Arbiter email application. You have been strongly encouraged in the past to create a separate folder in your email system to store all Arbiter emails sent to you by the CCSUA training staff and assigners . Please do so now if you could not find the original emails referenced above. Thank you.
Locker Room postings since last month’s News & Notes
New and revised articles
Mechanics Corner/All Umpires/General Mechanics – The Wedge
Rules Corner/Batting/On the Pitch – Batter’s Actions. Added photo of ball near line – fair or foul?
Mechanics Corner/All Umpires/ General Mechanics – Obstruction Call Mechanics has been revised to match the newly added sections to the 2021 CCA Manual in Section 6 (6.11 and 6.12)
There will soon be an update to these articles based on what is presented at the January 17 NCAA Umpire Clinic:
• Summary of new and changed mechanics for 2021
• Major Mechanics Differences for College vs Other Codes
From the Assigners
All information below is current as of January 15, 2021. Keep checking your emails, the Arbiter, and the Locker Room for updated information.
STATUS OF ASSIGNING SPRING SPORTS
COVID protocols will be determined by the State/County/Conference/Each University, so they vary at locations. All are still watching basketball to see what procedures they need to change/add for the spring sports game sites. The only conference ready to play January 29th start date is the GSAC. Those protocols for each university are located on the Arbiter under LISTS/FORMS as 2021 GSAC Screening Protocols for Game Officials. Please download and read them. If you do not want to go to a university due to the testing protocols, please let Terry/Dale/Joanne know right away.
The season will be very “fluid” and many assignments will be on a 2 week basis in ALL CONFERENCES. Protocols will change and games may be rescheduled due to teams or officials testing positive.
STATUS on JANUARY 15th
• Community College – Due to start in March as scheduled. Testing protocols unknown yet
• NAIA/GSAC – Assigning started in Arizona & will start next week in California. Protocols on the Arbiter website.
• D3/SCIAC – Master schedule starts in March & given to Johnson/Venditto, but we cannot assign until the Conference Commissioner notifies us there will be testing protocols in place.
• D2/PAC-WEST – Schedule just getting firmed up by the Conference
• D2/CCAA – Dropped all spring sports. The testing costs are too high due to staffing necessities.
• D1/ West Coast Assigning in process. Testing protocols not finalized yet.
• D1/ Mt West – Assigning in process. Testing protocols not finalized yet.
• D1/ Big West – Assigning in process for conference series assignments. Schedule finalized Friday Jan 15. Non-conference games still not confirmed. Testing is on site. Umpires must arrive 2 1/2 hours prior to the first game of the conference series. Then isolate until game time. If you test positive, you get 50% pay, then need 2 negative tests & quarantine for x days to be able to work again. Hawaii…The official assigned shall get a test at their own cost ($150) to fly to Hawaii.
• D1/Pac-12 – Feb/March tournaments have become single/DH. ASU will host Kajakawa (4 games a day). Conference schedule being added to the Arbiter next week. Protocols still not finalized, but in draft form. Umpires working conference series will be sent tests for their assigned schedule. They test and mail no later than Tuesday & are notified Wednesday/Thursday (not determined yet) if they are ok to travel to game site. Tests also given at game site.