Some material from Referee.com, June 1, 2022 article – 9 Points To Grade Your Officiating Crew Crewness As defined in the 2023 CCA Manual, crewness is: the essential and fundamental ability of the umpire team to work together to serve the game of softball. • Crewness requires planning, communication, game management tools, the ability to learn from others, leadership, and
Sample EMAIL to Coach 2023
SAMPLE EMAIL FOR YOU TO UPDATE & SEND TO EVENT STAFF/A.DIRECTOR/COACHES DELETE ALL THIS BEFORE YOU SEND Bold highlighted areas need to be REPLACED for each game/series. Use single or DH BUT ERASE THE ONE YOU DON’T USE Email Subject Line: (School Name) Softball Game/Series on (Date/Dates) Event Manager/Coach, (USE THIS FOR SERIES/DOUBLE HEADER) This is (Crew Chief Name/Plate Umpire)
Team Tendencies
At the higher levels of all sports the opponents have thoroughly scouted each other and know what to expect when they compete. Do you think it might be helpful, as an umpire, to know something about the teams who are competing? There is a recent trend by umpires at the higher levels to start “scouting” the teams. It is now
Mental Preparation – Should ‘of, Could ‘of, Would ‘of
By Glenn Waggoner. In any sport the theme for umpires is the physical and mental preparation for each contest. We are often reminded that the athletes are stronger, faster and more agile. So we know that getting in shape with some form of activity will help us endure the challenges we will soon face. But how do we prepare ourselves
Pre-game Procedures – start a week before game date
Contacting the Coaches and your Partner by email: A sample email is located on CCSUA Locker Room – Protocols Corner in this same Game Preparation section. The crew chief /plate umpire should check the Arbiter Schedule and home team Point of contact information to determine who the email should be sent to. (Coaches at Community College level, Event managers at
Post-game Procedures
This article includes topics taken from the CCA Manual for Post-game The post-game starts before the game is over. • Create a checklist similar to your pre-game checklist. • Umpires should have as part of their accessories a small pad and pen to take notes during the game. This is as important as your indicator, brush, etc. • When taking
Professionalism By Anthony Garcia
On the Field Professionalism By Anthony Garcia I received an email from my assignor and attached to it was an email from a coach. It began “Joanne, you often get emails from me complaining about the umpires at my games but this one is different.” The coach went on to compliment the umpires on the double header we had worked
What it takes to be an Excellent Umpire
Do you want to be an Excellent umpire? Let us start this article with this message: the best officials, the officials that rise to the top, are masters of rules and mechanics. But they are also the few that live in that world of game and situation management in between being soft and being a hard a$$. Your road to
Five Lessons in Leadership
As college umpires, we are all expected to be professional at all time – on and off the field. We are also expected to be knowledgeable of the requirements for leadership – the exercise of authority, handling mistakes, teamwork, and human nature. Let’s review these traits of leadership and how they relate to umpiring. Use your authority skillfully Umpires, especially
Someone is Always Watching and Listening
This article includes excerpts from article in Referee.com, October 24, 2018 When we sign up to be an official, we should understand there is a higher standard of behavior for our actions on the field or court. But what about when we are not wearing the uniform? Like it or not officials are public figures, even at the amateur levels.
Put a Bad Call or Game in the Rearview Mirror
Every umpire has made a bad call during a game, whether they will admit it or not. Also, many of us have had one of those games he or she would rather forget. Whether it was a kicked call, problems with a partner or crewmate, or argumentative players and coaches, it is not always easy to put those games in
Is “Good Job” Good Enough?
Excerpts from article on Referee.com, 1/21/19 A good quote to remember: “There are no two words in the English language more harmful than, ‘Good job.’” How often do you walk into the locker room after a game, shake hands with your partner or crewmates and automatically say, “Good job,” before you’ve spent even a moment dissecting the job just completed?
My View from the Stands, NCAA umpire Observer, The Umpire’s Coach.
By Jim Sanderson I am very proud to be the fan for the umpire and share in celebrating great umpiring. The long hours of games allow me time for reflection, as I am often asking what allows some umpires to shine and handle most game situations while others struggle to manage coaches, players and themselves. The umpires that are able
Mental Training
From the presentation at the 2017 NCAA SUP Umpire Clinic, by Sports Psychologist Chris Carr, PhD, HSPP, CC-AASP. Opening remarks – Performance Psychology Performance psychology has to do with excellent performance in a field where excellence counts. So today we are focusing on excellence. Good coping skills are intrinsic to excellence in umpiring. Performance psychology fits right into what umpires
Nine Mental Skills for Successful Umpires
From NFCA Fastpitch Delivery, May 2017, by Joseph Maniscalco Maintaining a positive attitude This important skill can make the difference between advancing to the highest levels of softball umpiring and staying at the level you are at right now. Successful umpires realize that attitude is a choice. That choice is something that defines your character, the person you are, and
CCSUA Umpires Self-Assessment Program
Having both the ability and willingness to self-evaluate is critical to becoming a better college umpire. Look at yourself. Recognize your shortcomings. Understand what you could do better. Don’t study the rules enough? Quick temper? Too technical? Overweight? Once you know what you need to work on, you can start to improve. Wanting to improve is a sign of
CCSUA Self-Assessment Form
CCSUA UMPIRE SELF-ASSESSMENT FORM Name: Date Completed: For all questions, consider these four areas – Rules, Mechanics, Game Management, Protocols. Copy and paste this form into a document you can edit. Then complete it and save it. What were your goals going into the season and why (some detail)? Overall how would you rate
Umpire Uniform and Equipment
A very important part of a college umpire’s professionalism is his/her appearance and having the proper equipment. Is every item of your uniform and equipment “TV ready?” Here are some suggestions. Uniform and Equipment annual checkup An umpire’s uniforms and equipment need an annual check-up to assure they are in top condition, similar to the yearly check-up with your
Code of Ethics
Master rules and mechanics; exercise authority in an impartial, firm and controlled manner. Work with each other and your umpire associations in a constructive and cooperative manner. Uphold the honor and dignity of the profession in all interactions with student-athletes, coaches, athletic directors, school administrators, colleagues, and the public. Prepare self both physically and mentally, dress neatly/appropriately, and comport yourself
Game Report Template
USE THE BIG RED ”R” to do your brief report within 24 hours of the scheduled game time. Please use the following five-questions as a guideline to complete your report. Perhaps you save this as a WORD document and use it each time to fill in your response…then place in the “Comment” section of your report. 1. Actual time the
Detailed Instructions for Completing an Incident Report
Tips for Completing an Incident Report The details of an Incident Report should be concise and state the facts in a clear form to make it easy to understand the actions as they happened. Make it as simple as possible so the people reading it will have the facts without getting the impression that the umpire is trying to defend
The Protocols for Ejections
Requirements for umpires after the game The ejecting umpire must submit an electronic Incident Report no later than 24 hours after the game to the appropriate person. IN ADDITION: the CCSUA Assigners’ request that before leaving the game site or between games of a doubleheader or tournament, the crew chief (plate umpire in a 2-umpire game) or the ejecting umpire,
The “It” Factor
The “It” FactorFrom Referee.com 1/19/2018 Rules knowledge, mechanics and making the right calls are important. Missing any of those elements can break your career, but having them won’t make it. Wait. What? It’s true. They won’t set you apart. Because all officials should be studying the rules, getting in the right position to make the calls and making the right
The Emotional Side of Umpiring
Source: Referee.com 4/2/2018 Judgment is an old concept in terms of human history, and as time goes on, humans are constantly trying to regulate judgment and eliminate emotion, to the point of robotic consistency. The essence of the evolution of judgment makes it something else, something resembling a computer program. If each game or contest regulated by humans was made
My Levels of Thinking – by Glenn Waggonner
My Four Levels of Thinking: 1. Unconsciously incompetent – we are new to the game and have not read or grasped, nor applied everything we need to understand for the level of ball. We simply don’t get it yet. However, we are familiar with game from other levels of exposure. We worked together, we are partners. 2. Consciously incompetent –
Softball Umpires A Threatened Species?
By Jim SandersonOur way of life is in danger of changing – the games that we umpire; the games that we have so much passion about. The games that are so much a part of our American culture and fabric of society, may not be played in the future due to lack of quality, trained, competent officials. A serious shortage
Five Stages of Umpiring
This posting is mostly a summary of the material from an article in Referee Magazine, July 2016, written by George Hammond. Introduction Moving up as a softball umpire to the next levels of officiating is not a sprint, it is a marathon. Some officials progress faster through the stages than others. Some reach a plateau and find it difficult to
The Current Officiating Crisis
As most of us are aware, there is a huge challenge for many softball umpire organizations to fill assignments to cover all the games – high school season, travel ball tournaments, rec leagues, etc. How many of you have worked a high school game by yourself, or been pulled off the JV assignment to be the second umpire on a