Communal gear

[Mudisfun]

My son's LL has communal gear at all of the fields which include a Diamond mask, Pro Nine chest protector and Diamond shin guards as well as a plate brush and indicator. We provide a navy blue shirt and black cap as well for each of the team volunteer umpires so their out of pocket cost as a volunteer is zero other than time to learn.

 

In our district if you attend all 6 rules training nights, 1 four hour fast start umpire clinic (basic mechanics), the 8 hr mechanics course, the 1.5 hr advanced mechanics course and work 2 mentor games with a staff umpire then you qualify for certification,. With our league if you obtain certification and work 10 games for us we will reimburse the umpire up to $150 for the purchase of gear which means that most folks can get into officiating for little out of pocket and actually have a decent setup by the end of the season. Is this going to get them plate shoes, base shoes, several pants and full gear, no of course not but it is a good start for most of them.

 

The nice part of this is that there is little excuse for not helping out due to not having gear available and we typically replace the old gear after a season or two. Luckily a good chunk of the games get covered by folks who actually want to umpire and who have their own gear so our 'loaner' stuff is in really good condition typically when we finally retire it out and donate it to a Junior umpire for the next season. 

 

This works for us but again we have a fairly good volunteer umpire core in our district.

[BigUmpire]

In our district if you attend all 6 rules training nights, 1 four hour fast start umpire clinic (basic mechanics), the 8 hr mechanics course, the 1.5 hr advanced mechanics course and work 2 mentor games with a staff umpire then you qualify for certification,. With our league if you obtain certification and work 10 games for us we will reimburse the umpire up to $150 for the purchase of gear which means that most folks can get into officiating for little out of pocket and actually have a decent setup by the end of the season. Is this going to get them plate shoes, base shoes, several pants and full gear, no of course not but it is a good start for most of them".

 

Sounds like a great program.

You must have a very good UIC.

[conbo61]

"locked job box chained to the backstop"

Outside?

Yup.

[BaltimoreUmpire]

"locked job box chained to the backstop"

Outside?

Yup.Sounds like its a gear sauna, I wouldn't trust mask pads from it. They'd be baked like cookies.

[umpstu]

Ah, what memories! Eh, BaltimoreUmp?

How did we ever survive without a Team Wendy retrofitted West Vest? That's what I don't get.

[Rulekeep]

All the fields here have little brown sheds attached to the 1B fence where they keep umpire gear, bases, and chalk. I wouldn't wear that stuff if my life depended on it.

[Rennolds]

You will not find many actual Little League affiliated leagues in the country that pay for umpires. It is not a written rule of the charter, but they add cliff notes and frown on it. It is up to the UIC to keep a good pool of guys. With that being said, my current position on our LL board is equipment manger. We used communal gear that ranged from the pillow to some moldy CP that was petrified in the shape of a W. I now have a bag sitting in the board room with a new Diamond iX3 set, five Smitty shirts of varying size and color, Smitty adjustable waist pants, plate shoes if they fit, hat, belt, ball bags, brush, clicker, etc. etc. It took me some time as I did not just go buy this stuff retail. The shirts for example I paid $25 for. This will be our communal gear bag for the upcoming season.You use it, you wash it please. I am working on another bag as we speak in the event a new umpire comes along this season and needs gear, we can give him the communal bag at a good price and rotate them through. Our board will actually buy a proper uniform and work with a new umpire to not only get them in some protective gear, but also look the part before they ever step on the field. The catch is making sure they are not a one hit wonder. Can't be giving away gear for one season of work. We just held our district All-Star tournament and everyone noticed how one of the local leagues looked like they pulled a homeless guy off the street and put them in a CP and shinnies that are for a 12 year old. Every LL is going to be different. Instead of my business sponsoring a season and that money going to the general fund, I use that money and buy things myself and put them to use. Not that the league wouldn't buy them, but it allows me better control of getting what I know we need. Like proper communal gear, gear lots, and so on.Our UIC past and present though set a little higher bar then the standard, "Hey Dad, come hold this pillow and ump our game". We luck out here though and have 3-4 older guys that have helped the league our for years so we don't have to pull from the stands that often.

[BigUmpire]

This is depressing.

[DVA7130]

You will not find many actual Little League affiliated leagues in the country that pay for umpires. It is not a written rule of the charter, but they add cliff notes and frown on it. It is up to the UIC to keep a good pool of guys. With that being said, my current position on our LL board is equipment manger. We used communal gear that ranged from the pillow to some moldy CP that was petrified in the shape of a W. I now have a bag sitting in the board room with a new Diamond iX3 set, five Smitty shirts of varying size and color, Smitty adjustable waist pants, plate shoes if they fit, hat, belt, ball bags, brush, clicker, etc. etc. It took me some time as I did not just go buy this stuff retail. The shirts for example I paid $25 for. This will be our communal gear bag for the upcoming season.You use it, you wash it please. I am working on another bag as we speak in the event a new umpire comes along this season and needs gear, we can give him the communal bag at a good price and rotate them through. Our board will actually buy a proper uniform and work with a new umpire to not only get them in some protective gear, but also look the part before they ever step on the field. The catch is making sure they are not a one hit wonder. Can't be giving away gear for one season of work. We just held our district All-Star tournament and everyone noticed how one of the local leagues looked like they pulled a homeless guy off the street and put them in a CP and shinnies that are for a 12 year old. Every LL is going to be different. Instead of my business sponsoring a season and that money going to the general fund, I use that money and buy things myself and put them to use. Not that the league wouldn't buy them, but it allows me better control of getting what I know we need. Like proper communal gear, gear lots, and so on.Our UIC past and present though set a little higher bar then the standard, "Hey Dad, come hold this pillow and ump our game". We luck out here though and have 3-4 older guys that have helped the league our for years so we don't have to pull from the stands that often.

All my local LL's do/did pay. (Most have switched to USSSA).

No one in my area uses communal gear.

[conbo61]

You will not find many actual Little League affiliated leagues in the country that pay for umpires. It is not a written rule of the charter, but they add cliff notes and frown on it. It is up to the UIC to keep a good pool of guys. With that being said, my current position on our LL board is equipment manger. We used communal gear that ranged from the pillow to some moldy CP that was petrified in the shape of a W. I now have a bag sitting in the board room with a new Diamond iX3 set, five Smitty shirts of varying size and color, Smitty adjustable waist pants, plate shoes if they fit, hat, belt, ball bags, brush, clicker, etc. etc. It took me some time as I did not just go buy this stuff retail. The shirts for example I paid $25 for. This will be our communal gear bag for the upcoming season.You use it, you wash it please. I am working on another bag as we speak in the event a new umpire comes along this season and needs gear, we can give him the communal bag at a good price and rotate them through. Our board will actually buy a proper uniform and work with a new umpire to not only get them in some protective gear, but also look the part before they ever step on the field. The catch is making sure they are not a one hit wonder. Can't be giving away gear for one season of work. We just held our district All-Star tournament and everyone noticed how one of the local leagues looked like they pulled a homeless guy off the street and put them in a CP and shinnies that are for a 12 year old. Every LL is going to be different. Instead of my business sponsoring a season and that money going to the general fund, I use that money and buy things myself and put them to use. Not that the league wouldn't buy them, but it allows me better control of getting what I know we need. Like proper communal gear, gear lots, and so on.Our UIC past and present though set a little higher bar then the standard, "Hey Dad, come hold this pillow and ump our game". We luck out here though and have 3-4 older guys that have helped the league our for years so we don't have to pull from the stands that often.

We used to have volunteers, but they all got sick of dealing with grief and gave it up. As a result, our LL affiliated program had to bring in an association and pay the umpires.

We had system at a lower level that required other coaches to work the plate of games. However one set of coaches could not be bothered so THEY paid for our association to work those games out for their own pocket. Our guys would come out of those games all nicked up.

Some bemoan this loss of "volunteerism" for LL, but it is what it is.

I have no complaints as it got me hooked up with the association when my coaching days were over.

[gnhbua93]

Little League should not be umpire by "Volunteer" umpires or anybody in any capacity no more.  I just saw a camera shot of the World Series souvenir store and it was packed of merchandise.  Little League will be the next NCAA.

[basejester]

It's not about the cost of paying crews for Williamsport.  LL International has enough money to do that.  They don't have enough money to pay umpires for all of the regular season and district, section, state, and region all-stars.  An opportunity to umpire at Williamsport is a carrot that helps motivate that volunteerism.