competitive little kid sports

[Cartierfor3]

Anyone got any umpire questions? And no, I won't be answering "why are the umpires at ______ so shitty" or "the umpire at my kid's game had a real attitude problem. What's his deal?"

Got any good umpire job progression tips? I think it would be perfect for my 15 year old but he doesn't want to start in the rec leagues and wants to go straight to doing competitive games. Hes got a connection to basically do it all summer at 3&2 if he wants to but I think he's going to get his ass handed to him if he goes straight to that and will quit and never go back.

Depends on what level he starts at at 3&2. You have to grind through those little kid games. The only real way to progress is stick with it and get reps. I think its a fantastic side hustle because you can pretty much work as much or as little as you want and they are so short on umpires at all levels that you can move up.

Biggest thing is if he starts on machine pitch- be prepared for some dumb crap. The young parents don't know the game and get way too emotional about it.

[ChiComCat]

Thank you umps and potential umps.  After watching a lot of my nephew's games, I would absolutely hate doing that job.

[Stupid Fitz]

The biggest tip I would give anyone is do your best and be confident in your calls. We had a couple young dudes this weekend that actually did a decent job, but half the time no one knew what the call was. Even balls and strikes was a struggle. I wanted to tell him, "you are going to get yelled at by dumbass parents either way, so just make your call and make it so we all know what it is".

Appeals are always my favorite. For those that don't know, there are only two umps. When someone gets on, the field ump stands behind the pitcher. Its always a big lol when a kid checks his swing and the coach asks for an appeal. The field ump has basically the same view as the home plate up, but he is just further away so an appeal makes no sense anyway. 99.9% of the time, he just agrees with the call. This weekend, the field ump was a crotchety old dude and they appealed to him and he basically said, "eff off, I don't have the angle for that". The home ump was a young kid and was like, ok what evs, guess my call stands. It was a hoot.

[wetwillie]

Anyone got any umpire questions? And no, I won't be answering "why are the umpires at ______ so shitty" or "the umpire at my kid's game had a real attitude problem. What's his deal?"

Got any good umpire job progression tips? I think it would be perfect for my 15 year old but he doesn't want to start in the rec leagues and wants to go straight to doing competitive games. Hes got a connection to basically do it all summer at 3&2 if he wants to but I think he's going to get his ass handed to him if he goes straight to that and will quit and never go back.

Depends on what level he starts at at 3&2. You have to grind through those little kid games. The only real way to progress is stick with it and get reps. I think its a fantastic side hustle because you can pretty much work as much or as little as you want and they are so short on umpires at all levels that you can move up.

Biggest thing is if he starts on machine pitch- be prepared for some dumb crap. The young parents don't know the game and get way too emotional about it.

He's a pitcher so I feel confident in his ability to gauge and keep a solid strike zone and manage that aspect behind the plate.  I think the aspects of things like getting in position to call a close foul ball down either line, throw out situations at third, weird one offs that happen once a weekend. I assume they have umpire training programs in the metro, I think that's probably what he needs and then just work the little kids games on up.

[Cartierfor3]

A lot of the weird stuff you just have to learn after the first time you mess it up. As was said earlier in this thread, sell every call, especially close plays.

[Cartierfor3]

The biggest tip I would give anyone is do your best and be confident in your calls. We had a couple young dudes this weekend that actually did a decent job, but half the time no one knew what the call was. Even balls and strikes was a struggle. I wanted to tell him, "you are going to get yelled at by dumbass parents either way, so just make your call and make it so we all know what it is".

Appeals are always my favorite. For those that don't know, there are only two umps. When someone gets on, the field ump stands behind the pitcher. Its always a big lol when a kid checks his swing and the coach asks for an appeal. The field ump has basically the same view as the home plate up, but he is just further away so an appeal makes no sense anyway. 99.9% of the time, he just agrees with the call. This weekend, the field ump was a crotchety old dude and they appealed to him and he basically said, "eff off, I don't have the angle for that". The home ump was a young kid and was like, ok what evs, guess my call stands. It was a hoot.

To avoid this if it's close and I'm behind the dish I'll just say "YES HE DID!" and bag a strike. If I'm in the field and someone appeals unless it's absolutely terrible I'm not overturning his call.

[wetwillie]

How exaggerated is your strike three call? I think that would be my favorite part of umping a game.

[nicname]

The biggest problem young umps routinely have when working youth games is not widening the strike zone. They go in there with a tight zone and create walk-festivals, which aren’t any fun for anyone. Give them letters to knees and a couple of inches on the outside corner (not the inside). Force the kids to swing the bat.

I fell into this trap pumping youth games in Manhattan about 20 years ago.

[Stupid Fitz]

The biggest problem young umps routinely have when working youth games is not widening the strike zone. They go in there with a tight zone and create walk-festivals, which aren’t any fun for anyone. Give them letters to knees and a couple of inches on the outside corner (not the inside). Force the kids to swing the bat.

I fell into this trap pumping youth games in Manhattan about 20 years ago.

Yep, "good" umpires behind the plate can really suck ass. Also, if the kid backs away before the pitch hits the mitt, its an auto strike. Sorry buddy. I felt so bad for this little dude a few weeks ago. He went up to the plate and did the tap the plate with his bat thing. He crouched down and reached across and tapped the plate, but I lol'd when he reached and was barely touching the inside of the plate. There was almost a zero chance of him even hitting anything in the zone he was so far back.

[michigancat]

it's our last water polo season (probably) and gearing up for summer tournaments there is drama as there usually is. Since there aren't enough girls at any one club, clubs will join forces to create more competitive teams. Anyway my daughter's club and another club were merging and planned to have an A team and a B team. At least that's what one of the coaches thought. There were 3 or 4 combined tournaments with one team and eventually the other coach (who was going to lead the A team in summer tourneys) thought it was going to be one big team with a huge bench while my daughter's coach thought there would be an A and a B team (so weaker players from both clubs could play a lot at an appropriate level).

The two team would have worked brilliantly EXCEPT the A team coach and/or his weaker players decided that his weaker players would not play on the B team, despite the fact that they clearly should based on ability. Which led to my daughter's coach pressuring my daughter (who was clearly an A-teamer) into playing with the B team to guarantee the weaker players of his club would have an opportunity to play on a more competitive team. Like, he tried to tell her she were depriving the weaker players of a chance to play at all and that the A-team coach didn't want her or have space for her when the A coach flat out told her he wanted her on the team and told them that they were depriving the weaker players of a chance to play. Really not cool.

anyway she is playing with the a-team in a couple of weeks and she will have a lot of fun (hopefully)

FOLLOW UP

after convincing my daughter to play with the a-team in a tournament that basically locks her to the team for the summer, A-team coach texted my daughter and two other girls (who happen to be the only seniors not committed to play varsity in college) in a group called "vibe squad" and said that they probably wouldn't play in future tournaments unless they were blowouts but he really liked the "vibes" they brought to the team and wanted them to keep playing. it's pretty wild because this coach has never had a full team practice (because it's a bit of a "super team") but is basically benching these girls in favor of equivalent players who happen to have signed D1 and/or girls that have never played with the team but have a pedigree or something. (note my daughter could have played D1, just didn't like the D1 options available)

I have never complained to a coach about playing time at all, but my daughter had played and started on teams with about half of the girls on the team and started on a team that had more national success than all but two of the girls who were on her team last year. (teams change every year because of 2-year age groups). She also played in a couple tournaments with most of this team and played a reasonable amount and played just as well as any other girls (other than 3 or 4 who are truly clearly better). A-team coach is an ex college coach and I think he thinks that by showcasing a team of committed players he can show coach college again? no idea but it was really shitty for a while - she seems to have accepted it and I think he will end up playing her a reasonable amount but sheesh what a tough way to go out.

[Stupid Fitz]

it's our last water polo season (probably) and gearing up for summer tournaments there is drama as there usually is. Since there aren't enough girls at any one club, clubs will join forces to create more competitive teams. Anyway my daughter's club and another club were merging and planned to have an A team and a B team. At least that's what one of the coaches thought. There were 3 or 4 combined tournaments with one team and eventually the other coach (who was going to lead the A team in summer tourneys) thought it was going to be one big team with a huge bench while my daughter's coach thought there would be an A and a B team (so weaker players from both clubs could play a lot at an appropriate level).

The two team would have worked brilliantly EXCEPT the A team coach and/or his weaker players decided that his weaker players would not play on the B team, despite the fact that they clearly should based on ability. Which led to my daughter's coach pressuring my daughter (who was clearly an A-teamer) into playing with the B team to guarantee the weaker players of his club would have an opportunity to play on a more competitive team. Like, he tried to tell her she were depriving the weaker players of a chance to play at all and that the A-team coach didn't want her or have space for her when the A coach flat out told her he wanted her on the team and told them that they were depriving the weaker players of a chance to play. Really not cool.

anyway she is playing with the a-team in a couple of weeks and she will have a lot of fun (hopefully)

FOLLOW UP

after convincing my daughter to play with the a-team in a tournament that basically locks her to the team for the summer, A-team coach texted my daughter and two other girls (who happen to be the only seniors not committed to play varsity in college) in a group called "vibe squad" and said that they probably wouldn't play in future tournaments unless they were blowouts but he really liked the "vibes" they brought to the team and wanted them to keep playing. it's pretty wild because this coach has never had a full team practice (because it's a bit of a "super team") but is basically benching these girls in favor of equivalent players who happen to have signed D1 and/or girls that have never played with the team but have a pedigree or something. (note my daughter could have played D1, just didn't like the D1 options available)

I have never complained to a coach about playing time at all, but my daughter had played and started on teams with about half of the girls on the team and started on a team that had more national success than all but two of the girls who were on her team last year. (teams change every year because of 2-year age groups). She also played in a couple tournaments with most of this team and played a reasonable amount and played just as well as any other girls (other than 3 or 4 who are truly clearly better). A-team coach is an ex college coach and I think he thinks that by showcasing a team of committed players he can show coach college again? no idea but it was really shitty for a while - she seems to have accepted it and I think he will end up playing her a reasonable amount but sheesh what a tough way to go out.

This crap just makes me rage. I see and hear coaches like this all the time and am so glad we were able to find a spot that fits us for the most part. crap like this just makes kids hate a sport or quit way sooner than they have to.

[steve dave]

Why can’t she just go back to that other team?


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[nicname]

Rusty, it sounds like your “A-team” coach is looking to build his “brand” for the future.

“We sent players, x x and x to collegiate water polo! So you can rest assured when you pay us the big bucks to train your daughter, she may very well find similar results!”

[michigancat]

Why can%u2019t she just go back to that other team?


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USA water polo rules prevent it because she was rostered with a-team for a qualifying tournament. Also these girls are mostly her friends she's played with for the last three seasons so I don't think she'd want to play with girls who aren't her friends to play more even if she could.

Rusty, it sounds like your %u201CA-team%u201D coach is looking to build his %u201Cbrand%u201D for the future.

%u201CWe sent players, x x and x to collegiate water polo! So you can rest assured when you pay us the big bucks to train your daughter, she may very well find similar results!%u201D

yes but those girls are already on the team

also my daughter is tight with younger players at her home club that are really really good (like Euro national team good with more potential than players her age) and a good experience would play dividends for the a-team coach down the road. (a bad experience could really hurt him). It really makes no sense.

[Stupid Fitz]

You should push him in the pool.

[steve dave]

She’s going to have to get on Tren then. Only solution.


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[nicname]

Does the “a-team” coach have a daughter on the team? If that is the case it may not be my first posit, but rather that he just wants his daughter’s team as stacked and strong as possible and he will not be around next year.

[pissclams]

can you hire a friend of a friend to slash his tires?  have the slasher leave a note attached to one of the tires by stabbing the switchblade knife through the note and into the tire.

the note should include a strong warning that your daughter starts the games, playing as much as possible, or else the tires will not be the only thing getting slashed.

i’d at least consider this approach

[ben ji]

How exaggerated is your strike three call? I think that would be my favorite part of umping a game.

This is the key question. I would really hope CF3 has a super exaggerated SAFE or OUT motion for plays at the plate.

[michigancat]

Does the “a-team” coach have a daughter on the team? If that is the case it may not be my first posit, but rather that he just wants his daughter’s team as stacked and strong as possible and he will not be around next year.

He doesn't have kids on the team. Protecting his own club is a factor, but he included one of his club's players in the "vibe squad" text. The"a-team" played the "b-team" in the qualifying tournament I kinda think he was trying to prevent the "b-team" from being competitive by convincing my daughter and a couple others to join him.

And to be clear, the issue isn't trying to stack the squad, it's that he convinced my daughter to play a reduced role on his team that he then revised to an even further reduced role after she was locked to the team.

[michigancat]

can you hire a friend of a friend to slash his tires?  have the slasher leave a note attached to one of the tires by stabbing the switchblade knife through the note and into the tire.

the note should include a strong warning that your daughter starts the games, playing as much as possible, or else the tires will not be the only thing getting slashed.

i’d at least consider this approach

Looking into this

[Cartierfor3]

How exaggerated is your strike three call? I think that would be my favorite part of umping a game.

This is the key question. I would really hope CF3 has a super exaggerated SAFE or OUT motion for plays at the plate.

On a close play at home I absolutely exaggerate the out/safe call. You have to. On a called strike three I am less big than I used to be. All I do now is yell "THREE!" as I pull the chain.

[Cartierfor3]

I reffed volleyball and basketball also this year, can't remember if I mentioned. Basketball is hard to ref!

[pissclams]

I reffed volleyball and basketball also this year, can't remember if I mentioned. Basketball is hard to ref!

basketball is much easier to imo because you can set your tone/tolerance level and just roll with it.  consistency is key.  baseball is more black and white, right or wrong.

i’ve obviously earned my keep doing both at different times throughout my life.

[wetwillie]

I worked the scoreboard/clock for a youth football league  for a season when I was 14.  It was in Salina so there was added degree of difficulty.