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February 15, 2012 By

ASA Region 15 Clinicians - Wild Bill Silves, Kevin Ryan, Malcolm Boyles, Bob Stanton, Brian Van Os, Lori Bish

What an amazing learning experience!

Thank you to all of the fantastic clinicians who gave so much of their time and expertise to help make all of us in Region 15 better umpires.

Nearly 250 umpires gathered for a great weekend of learning, building relationships and having some great fun. The head umpires from ASA in the United States, Softball Canada, and the International Softball Federation engaged everyone with their expert knowledge and creativity.

The Canadian's sing for the Clinic - Thanks for being here!

We are especially thankful to the great contingent of umpires from up north who treated us to a rousing rendition of their National Anthem as well as sharing their thoughtful expertise and fun!

We’re working on a complete Clinic update, but until then here is access to some of the presentations:

Playing Rule Changes
Balance in Umpiring
Interference/Obstruction
Name That Game
Train the Trainers
ASA Evaluations
Batting Out of Order

Thank you to all Clinicians, all staff who helped make this so successful and especially to ALL THE WOMEN AND MEN IN BLUE who attended.

 

Filed Under: Regional Clinic, Training

Second Meeting – February 6th

November 28, 2011 By

New Recruits at January Meeting

About 20 new recruits and over 100 SMSUA members were at the January 9 General Membership Meeting.

If you weren’t there, you missed seeing Tom Henderson and Troy Fields receive their ASA Elite Umpire Awards, a demonstration of the new website, hearing the new buzz about the February 11-12 Regional Clinic (Bob Stanton – The head guy for International Umpires will be there as well as ASA President-Elect Phil Gutieriez), what to do if you want to work post-season high school ball, and what’s in store for the rest of the year.

Lots of Blues Listen to Wild Bill talk about the Clinic

So you don’t want to miss February’s meeting.  February 6 at the Tyee Educational Complex Cafeteria. Come at 6:30 to check out the uniforms, greet new umpires, and say hello to old friends. The meeting starts promptly at 7:00 pm.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Filed Under: Meetings

Feb ASA Rules and Clarifications

February 8, 2012 By

Lou McCaffery behind the plate

We know you wait with eager anticipation every month to review the ASA Rules and Clarifications!

Check out February’s installment for the most up-to-date information.

This month there’s a pretty great break-down of when a ball becomes dead, remains live or becomes a delayed dead ball. And a correction to the umpire manual that you’ll want to read.

Enjoy!

 

 

Filed Under: Training

Regional Clinic Agenda – 8:00 am Saturday Start!

February 7, 2012 By

Are you ready for a party?! We’re looking forward to seeing 300 of our friends in blue this weekend in Kent. This is truly going to be a once-in-a-lifetime clinic experience.

Here’s the 2012 Regional Clinic Agenda. Note that everything gets started at 8:00 am on Saturday (registration starts at 7:00) and the party doesn’t end until 1:30 on Sunday. As if the party can ever end in ASA.

Still time to register, just email Erin and let her know you’ll be there. Or bring a friend.

Address to both Kent Meridian High School and the Host Hotel, Best Western on the Greens, can be found in this flyer.

Let’s get this party started!

 

Filed Under: Regional Clinic

School Ball Rules Changes Here

February 7, 2012 By

All high school and middle school games are governed by the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) Rules. Although there aren’t many significant changes to the rules or mechanics this year, Gerald St.Clair went through some of the more significant changes for the members at the February 6 meeting.

If you missed that meeting, or want to refresh what you learned there, check out this slideshow that includes all of Gerald’s slides.

If we can help you with more or better training tools, please let us know.

 

Filed Under: Training

Clinic Update – Over 250 Coming

January 19, 2012 By

John Wright at the World Cup - Come meet the guy in charge of International umpires at the Feb Clinic

In case you haven’t heard – over 250 Blues from all over the Northwest are signed up for the Region 15 ASA Clinic February 11-12.

Newest information is that Bob Stanton – Director of Umpires for the International Softball Federation will be joining the top of the top clinicians and Phil Gutierrez, President-Elect of ASA Softball will show up to see how we do things here in Seattle.

If you haven’t registered, email Erin today and give her your shirt size. This is truly going to be an amazing event – The top umpire supervisors from the United States, Canada, and the World will be here. You don’t want to miss it.

Filed Under: Regional Clinic

ASA Slow Pitch Camp – May 17-20 in Lincoln, Nebraska

January 18, 2012 By

Calling all Slow Pitch Umpires!

If you are a slow pitch umpire who wants to get the call for those top games or just wants to learn from the very best slow pitch umpires in the country, seriously consider going to the ASA 2012 Slow Pitch Camp this May.

The Nebraska ASA team has a fantastic camp planned. Check out this flyer 2012 SlowPitchCampInfo for the most detailed information. Highlights include: working at the University of Nebraska; Exposure to Craig Cress, ASA Director of Umpires and Kevin Ryan, ASA Supervisor of Umpires; Training and feedback that includes a video of your plate game; working a regional qualifying tournament; meeting Blues from all over the country.

In addition, the Nebraska ASA team has set up a “payment plan” option so you can pay a little each month to cover the cost of the Camp ($400 for the camp $60/night for 3 nights in a hotel).

Grab a slow pitch buddy, think of road-tripping together or coordinating your flights, and register to learn from the best Slow Pitch Umpires in the country.

 

Filed Under: Training

Congratulations to Our Two New ASA Elite Umpires

January 18, 2012 By

Tom Henderson Receives his ASA Elite

Congratulations to Tom Henderson and Troy Fields for earning their ASA fast pitch Elite Umpire Award.

The ASA Elite Umpire Award is the highest recognition for ASA umpires and is the first step towards earning International Softball Federation (ISF) certification. To become an ASA Elite Umpire each umpire must be selected to work two major tournaments (Men’s, Women’s, or 18 Gold) and earn an ASA “Excellent” evaluation in each of those tournaments.

Troy Fields Receives his ASA Elite

Only a very small number of all umpires ever earn their ASA Elite Award.

We’re proud to have two new ASA Elite Umpires here with SMSUA. Give them a handshake or a hug next time you see them.

Filed Under: Recognition

Free training programs for all members

December 20, 2011 By

Whether you’ve been umpiring for 30 years or 30 minutes, SMSUA offers top-notch training. We promise to work with all of our umpires to prepare them to reach the highest level they want to work.

We have lots of umpires who are happy working the recreational and young ages. And we have some umpires who have worked the highest levels (college world series, Olympics, and International).

Whatever your umpiring goals, our training program will help you meet them.

If you are just joining the umpire family, click here to learn about our free training for new umpires.

We look forward to seeing you on the field soon!

Filed Under: Training

Introducing the New SMSUA Website

December 20, 2011 By

Your SMSUA Board is pleased to announce the birth of the new website. In the short off-season, several Board members worked to re-design the website to add more information members were asking for, make it more user friendly, and create a “member’s only” section.

A very warm and deserved “THANK YOU” to Erin Peterson who spearheaded the project and made so much happen with very limited funds.

We hope you find this tool benefits you. If you want something you don’t see, please email us and tell us what you want. We can’t guarantee we’ll get to everything right away, but we’re here to make this a “go-to” tool that members value. So let us know.

To log in as a member, go here and follow the instructions.

If you have difficulty accessing anything, please email Erin.

We’re excited to offer this. Let us know what you think.

Filed Under: Admin

Answers to Uniform Questions

December 20, 2011 By

The standard uniform for most of the games we umpire is pretty easy to remember: a powder-blue shirt, black belt, gray pants and black shoes. When you’re doing a plate game you’ll also need a blue or gray ball bag. If it’s cold, you can wear the navy blue jacket.

Here are some common questions about uniforms:

Do I have to wear a t-shirt under my uniform? What color should it be?
You do not have to wear a t-shirt under your uniform. If you do wear a t-shirt, wear white under the powder blue shirt and navy under the navy shirt.

Can I wear the long-sleeve uniform even if my partner is wearing short sleeves?
Yes.

If my partner is wearing a jacket do I have to wear a jacket?
No.

If my partner is wearing a navy blue shirt can I wear my powder blue shirt?
No. You must be dressed in the same color uniform. Powder blue is the default uniform, so if you can’t decide, go with powder.

Can I wear a white t-shirt under my navy blue shirt?
No. You must wear a navy blue t-shirt under the navy blue uniform.

Can I wear my shin guards over my pants?
No. That just looks silly.

Can I umpire in shorts?
Yes you can umpire in shorts – for SLOW PITCH only. Shorts must be navy or heather gray.

Does it matter what color ball bag I wear?
No. You can wear a navy or gray ball bag.

Will I have to buy navy pants?
The standard uniform for SMSUA is gray pants so we will not require you to buy navy. Some umpire organizations use navy pants as the standard uniform and if you travel to those organizations you may need to purchase navy pants.

Filed Under: Training
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