Personal Training Programs

This page is for individuals seeking training for themselves. I receive many inquires from people wanting to know how to become an umpire. Some do not want to umpire but just have a question about the rules. These are usually managers and coaches but sometimes also parents or players. Regardless of your role in baseball, knowledge of the rules is the best place to start.

Learning the Rules

The first decision, which rules to learn — there are a number of variations. All baseball rules stem from the Official Baseball Rules. The National Association of Sports Officials (NASO; see www.NASO.org) and it's affiliated publication, Referee Magazine (see www.referee.com) track and report on three major sets of baseball rules. They are:

As appropriate, choose NFHS if your interest is high school, NCAA if it is college. All other baseball usually follows the OBR.

Becoming An Umpire

Timing: Timing is crucial. By the time you see players on the field preparing for the season, the opportunity for local umpire training has passed. Some of the warm weather professional schools may offer classes at other times but most training is done once a year, in preparation for the upcoming season. Some NFHS and NCAA affiliated associations begin their training the first week of January. Recreational programs vary but usually conclude by the end of March. You should have a handle, or at least information, on your upcoming umpire training by the time the ball drops in Time Square on New Year's Eve.

Direction:
The paragraphs below talk about paths to the various levels of baseball you can move toward. Select the type program that best matches your goal, situation and availability.

Professional, local programs: If you are committed to competitive umpiring but want or need to stay local, look into training with a local association that officiates local high school and/or college games. That can lead you to the most competitive games in your area but remember high school (NFHS) and college (NCAA) each have their own rules and require annual proprietary certification_exams. Local association training is relatively inexpensive but does require a commitment and work schedule that allows you to officiate mid-afternoon ball games. (Many local associations do not have web sites. If internet searches do not yield an association in your area, perhaps your local school athletic director, who schedules events, can provide some contact information.)

A Word of Caution: I receive inquiries from people who think about umpiring recreational ball games as a part time job — for the income: don't do it!. If you need to put food on the table, umpiring is not the way to do it. The goal of most first year umpires is to make enough money to paid for their equipment and gear. Even if you umpire on one of the professional levels (above), it is like any other small business — it often takes a couple years (seasons) before you start turning a profit.

If you get paid for umpiring, you are a self employed, small business person — an independent contractor. There may be some income but there are also various expenses. The only reason for umpiring recreational baseball is love the game (or possibly the desire to just give the kids a good game).

Local Recreational programs: Local programs are least likely to have a training program. New leadership often emerges as former leaders exit when their children out grow the program. New leaders are swamped with organizational responsibilities, so training is usually the last item on their prioritized "to do" list. Umpires (as well as managers and coaches) are often the dads brave enough to step up to fill the need.

Some recreational programs, affiliated with national or regional leadership (e.g. Little League, Cal Ripken, Dixie Youth, etc.), are more likely to have a training agenda but even they sometimes lack seasoned instructors. Training requires more than someone just "reading the rule book" aloud. There should be clear examples and answers (correct answers) to all those "what if" questions to make the training meaningful.

The good news is that most recreational programs use the Official Baseball Rules so the rules are readily available, relatively stable and do not have an annual certification requirement like HFHS and NCAA. Most recreational programs use, at least some, paid umpires (for their older leagues) while some try to rely solely on volunteers. This is why you are needed.

Volunteer training is often rudimentary at best and individuals must learn as they go. Most volunteers just apply the "rules they grew up with," are not very confident, become frustrated and don't last very long. Consequently, programs often find it difficult to retain enough volunteers and wind up in situations where there is no umpire at the field. The kids often rely on a parent to volunteer from the stands. This is why, if you want to volunteer as an umpire, most programs will be very happy to have you. Of course, training and preparation do help.

What I Offer:

I know recreational baseball and that parents want to be a part of their child's life. I understand all the problems associated with the learn as you go methodology. I lived it in my early years and continued to see it as a league chairperson and program commissioner. I still see it today in areas where I umpire and instruct, and in conversations I have with program leaders around the country. The most damaging effect of having umpires use the rules they grew up with, is that everyone (parents & youth) can experience different results on the same rule night after night.

Knowledge is meant to be shared and that is what I do. I offer a jump start intended to prepare you for your role in recreational baseball. The rules you absolutely have to know before you take the field and (for umpires) the basics of officiating a safe, fun game for everyone's enjoyment.

My Live Training Program
Each spring baseball programs host my Umpire Survival Training workshop, (discussed on Training page.) Sometimes, nearby programs share a workshop. Training is usually presented over four sessions of about three hours each (evenings between 6 to 9 PM and possibly a Saturday field scrimmage). The first 2 sessions cover the Baseball Rules Workshop. (These sessions have become popular with managers and coaches. They find it helpful to know what the umpire knows — or is supposed to know.) The last 2 sessions make-up the Umpiring Workshop which cover topics of specific interest to umpires, including tips on how to survive.

If you live in the Baltimore area and would like to receive a reminder via e-mail (sometime in February) of the dates, times and location of our next scheduled workshop, send a message to RemindMe@CMUmpires.org. Click on the link or copy and paste it to your e-mail program. Workshops are conducted in mid-March through early April. I hope to see you there.

Umpiring Workshop — is still in production.
For more information on the Umpiring DVD Set check back at a later time.

I know phone calls are difficult sometimes. If you want to e-mail, be as thorough as you can and leave a phone number where I can phone you. As I say in umpiring, "I'll make the call" - in the contiguous 48 states only please.