Guy attending school this year.

[Called3rdStrike]

Besides gear and clothes is anyone bringing anything else. I'll be bringing my clubs for Sundays. if anyone golfs that would be a great way to get away on Sunday's for a little bit.

Anyone want to make a check list of items not to forget?

[krwill96]

This is a list I've thought of so far I'm bringing that's not clothes, gear or toiletries:

Things needed to clean shoes/equipment

Sunscreen

Chapstick

Extra laces

Sunglasses

Icy hot

Pens/pencils/ highlighters

Notebook

I was thinking about bringing my clubs but I didn't think it would be worth it to lug them down there and pay extra for the third bag. I figured if I'm itching to go I can rent.

[JaxRolo]

I hope you have time for Golf!

[Called3rdStrike]

The itenerary says we are off on Sundays. I don't see why we wouldn't.

[JaxRolo]

I am really not qualified to comment since I haven't attended. But I have heard from some that say they used Sundays for study and practice.

 

Probably depends on how much you really want to get picked up!

[Haid D' Salaami]

I hope you have time for Golf!

you have all day on sundays to play...I played 3 times down there in Dayona Beach.  Trust me take your clubs, it is nice to get away from the hotel and unwind, and get away from the baseball stuff ( although your still thinkning of rules, plays, and mechanics )

[Haid D' Salaami]

What school are you going to?.. If you are going to TUS, you will still have time..

 

Trust me there is time after class at night, to stay on the fields and go over mechanics, I did it, and i ended up getting about 10 others I helped...you can study in your room at night... we used to have poker nights and 1 person not playing would read rules and ask questions..

 

Bring cards or go to Walgreens downt he street to buy them..

[JaxRolo]

I hope you have time for Golf!

you have all day on sundays to play...I played 3 times down there in Dayona Beach.  Trust me take your clubs, it is nice to get away from the hotel and unwind, and get away from the baseball stuff ( although your still thinkning of rules, plays, and mechanics )

 

Thanks Haid!

 

Like I said I am not qualified. Just like to give my opinion anyway!

[Haid D' Salaami]

Jax.. I know your ok man, I almost didn't take mine, but glad I did.

[dumbdumb]

The below is for this section and also for the question PBUC or HW in the equipment section for those going to school in 2013.

 

Here is a comment from Mr. Umpire (Jun. 15, 2011) under this same area "Free for All" under the topic Professional Umpire School posted on Jun. 12, 2011. All prospective umpire school candidates should read this before you go. Yes, this school is now out of business, but the advice remains current from all that I have read. It should be a repeated article every year for the prospective umpire school students who want a job, and even for those going just to improve. Hope all you guys on the plane going down right now or in the next couple of days read this, as well as those going to school later.

 

Mr. Umpires comments start below.

 

"I haven't been but I have seen some tips.  Here they are from a former Evans grad and instructor."
 

Quote

If you have a suit, or sport coat and dress pants, get it out and ready  for the trip, as it is the proper dress for the banquet. Wear it on the  plane on your way down. It will save it from getting wrinkled in your  luggage and may make a good first impression on the instructors when  they pick you up at the airport. YES, those are instructors that pick  you up from the airport. They won't identify themselves as instructors,  cuz your evaluation as a person has already begun. There have been guys  that have shot themselves in the foot before they even got to the hotel  to check in. I speak from experience.

Expect a phone call at the airport to try and locate you. Have your phone on and handy.  It is chaos on arrival day for the apprentice instructors as they  scramble to get everyone picked up, so be patient! There are a ton of  guys arriving and only 2 or 3 shuttles running to try and get everyone.

Be polite at the hotel. Again, those guys helping with the check in  process are instructors. Do not make a bad name for yourself. Be patient  with this process, too. DO NOT complain about your roommate. You share a  room with your partner in A ball, and you don't get to pick him.  Roommate quarrels will be a part of your evaluation if you have  problems.

After you get settled, make friends with someone that has a car and go  to Wal-Mart (this is also necessary to get yourself to class each day.)  To get to the Wal-Mart, go out of the hotel to the right and keep going.  It is 4 or 5 miles down on the left. Get shoe cleaning stuff and some  cheap towels or rags. If you use the hotel towels to clean your shoes  they will charge you. Jimmy usually gives out some red rags for shoe  cleaning, but they shed and leave red fuzz on your shoes and on the  floor in your room. Get some of your own. Get a few gallons of drinking  water, cuz the Florida water is not good.

Take note of stuff around you on your trip. Just past the Wal-Mart there  is a laundry place on the left (near the Sonic) that will do your  laundry for you or you can do it yourself.  You will pass a Hess station  that is good in the morning or after class for random stuff you may  need. Also, if you don't have Firehouse Subs where you live, make a  point to visit it while you're down there. They are grrrrrrrreat. It is  located down near the Wal-Mart.  (If you're feeling adventurous when  it is laundry time, there is another laundry place if you go out of the  hotel to the left a few miles. It's behind the Walgreens. That place is  my favorite cuz they have a huge talking parrot that lives inside.)

As for on the field stuff...do your best not to get down on yourself. Take everything the training has to offer in stride and use all of it to better yourself as an umpire.  The instructors do not discriminate between those that are competing  for a job and those that are just there to get better. The training is  the same for everyone. They will get on you, and they will try to expose  your weaknesses on the field and use them against you. It is very easy  to get discouraged, but, it is much better to have your weaknesses  exposed during the training than to have it happen out in the real  world.

Everything that happens is done to make you a better umpire. Do not be  afraid to make mistakes in the first few weeks. It is 100% true when Jim  says that the discussion about who's going to PBUC doesn't start til  the 4th week. It is ok to screw things up. It is expected and encouraged, as long as you learn from it.  You will hear many times that guys are making day 2 mistakes on day 5  or something along those lines. Make day 2 mistakes on day 2, learn from  them, then don't make them again.

Ask questions if you need to, but don't jump ahead of the training. Jim  covers EVERYTHING and he has an order in which he does it. Most likely  your question will be answered before you need to ask it, but it may get  answered a couple of days down the road. Write your questions down and  then ask them later if he doesn't answer it when you get to that section  of the training.

Work on "proper use of eyes" starting right now. Take a balled up pair  of socks, lie on your back, throw it up in the air and catch it. Track  it the whole way up and down only moving your eyes. If you go out for a  ride in the car with someone else driving, track stuff with your eyes  and keep your head still. Track passing cars, passing signs, anything.  Try to train your eyes to move independently from your head. Continue  the sock training at night in the hotel. He won't start you on tracking  until late in week 2 or early week 3, but you'll be way ahead of the  game if you start exercising your eyes now.

Keep you uniform neat. Press your pants in your room once a week or more. Clean your shoes. Shave.  If you don't have a pair of real umpire pants, buy a pair now.  Have them shipped to the school  in you need to.  You only really need one if you go on Sunday and wash  them.  You just shelled out 3 grand, another 50 bucks isn't going to  break the bank, and you should look the part.  While we're on that  subject, get a real belt, too, if you don't alreay have one.  Wear black  socks, black shoes, and wear a navy blue undershirt if you are an  undershirt type of person.  

Help your group out as much as you can. After a while it will start to  become obvious to you who the likely front runners for jobs are. If you  have a likely candidate in your cage group, do whatever you can to help  him without badgering him in the process.

Learn from everything. Watching the drills can be even more  beneficial than doing them. Use the time waiting in line for your turn  to see what other guys do right and wrong. By the time your turn comes,  you will have seen 50 reps of the same thing. Ask the apprentice  instructors questions while you are waiting in line, that's what they  are there for. Do not, however, corner them and try to trick them with  strange situations. They WILL talk about it with senior staff and it  will come back to haunt you.

STRETCH! Stretch in the morning, at lunch, when you get home, and  before going to bed. Sitting in the classroom will tighten your muscles  up without you even realizing it. There is time built in for stretching  before beginning the outdoor activities, but extra will benefit you as  the weeks wear on.

Buy stuff from the store in the classroom! The apprentice  instructors run that store and the profits from it make up about half of  their pay. They really are apprentices and are only paid about 800  bucks for the month. They do all of the grunt work. Help them out by  buying their stuff, and spread the word to other students!

Bring a cheap VCR if you have one, or split the cost of a cheapo from  Wal-Mart with your roommate. There is a video review room (which you  should make use of cuz it is staffed with instructors to answer questions  and give advice) but it's only open a couple of hours each night. It is  great to be able to watch your video whenever you want, and you can have  your whole cage group come over and watch them together.

Do not expect much, if any, positive reinforcement. "Not bad" means  you're probably doing a good job. Jimmys philosophy is tough love. The  instructors are not there to coddle you. Also, if they tell a guy "good  job" a bunch of times and he ends up not going to PBUC, that may result  in issues. You won't hear them say good job very often, though it does  slip out every now and then.

Learn the instructors' names. They don't wear name tags. After a  couple of days their pictures will be posted in the back of the  classroom. You won't be quizzed on it, but you should study it a couple  of minutes each day. Do not call them sir, or Mr. _____, or any nickname you may hear them calling each other. Use their first name.

Do not ask questions during breaks. Breaks are breaks and the  instructors need them! The apprentices have to set up their snack bar  and the older guys have to use the bathroom, get a drink, or plan the  next activity. They are only 10 or 15 minutes long and they need every  minute of it.

For those of you that have heard the instruction compared to basic  training...there are some similarities, but there really isn't any  comparison. The mechanics and positioning are really the only things  that are totally broken down to be cookie cutter. It is the easiest way  to evaluate guys make everyone look the same and then evaluate  performance instead of style. It works at school  and it's what PBUC wants the first couple of years. There will be time  near the end of the 5 weeks where you will work a little bit on style.

If you go out at night, do not get in trouble. Everybody in the area knows who you are. The school  goes on every year and there is an influx of guys that have "the look."  People in the area know who you are and where you're from and if crap  happens it will get back to Jimmy.

If you go into a bar and see instructors, leave. If  you go to a specific destination (Howl at the Moon, Cowboys, Church  St., etc) and there are instructors, stay and have fun, but stay away  from them. Do not buy them drinks, don't go hang out with them. If you  must pass them, a simple hello will suffice.

Do not hang out in the hotel bar if you want a job. Do hang out in the  hotel bar if you want to hear war stories from Jimmy and you are not  looking for a job.