Just out of curiosity, how many of you think that your players' parents and other fans would be interested in going to a FREE class that discusses softball rules and some of the mechanics (why an umpire does or doesn't do something)?
I'm not talking about "How to Become and Umpire" but rather "How to be a More Educated Observer." In other words, "How Not to Sound Like an Idiot to Those Around You Who Know the Game."
The reason I ask is because it pains me to hear some of the uneducated things that come out of a parent's mouth. The parents then tell their child that the umpire's robbed them. Rather than telling their child that the call was right, that's how life goes and here is what the child could do better next time, they blame the umpire. It's the umpire's fault that the runner plowed into the 2nd baseman who has possession of the ball she just fielded. "She's just running the bases, blue! What do you want her to do? Don't worry Sweetie, you were fine." Just like it is our fault when an infield fly is dropped, the base coaches don't...COACH...their runners and the runners take off an run into tags resulting in double or triple plays.
I run enough clinics where holding one more class isn't going to get me into any more trouble with the Misses.
Who thinks people would actually show up? I think in organizations like Little League they ought to make a parent/guardian of each child show up to something like this. Plus it is a good opportunity to show the parents that we aren't a munch of millionaires who just like to go out and get screamed at in 105 degree heat for calling their daughters out on strike 3. Rather, we are humans who put ourselves on public display on a regular basis for a nominal fee where our on-the-job-training is open to review by anyone who wants to see it; something that isn't true of virtually any other trade in this country.
Thoughts...
I'm not talking about "How to Become and Umpire" but rather "How to be a More Educated Observer." In other words, "How Not to Sound Like an Idiot to Those Around You Who Know the Game."
The reason I ask is because it pains me to hear some of the uneducated things that come out of a parent's mouth. The parents then tell their child that the umpire's robbed them. Rather than telling their child that the call was right, that's how life goes and here is what the child could do better next time, they blame the umpire. It's the umpire's fault that the runner plowed into the 2nd baseman who has possession of the ball she just fielded. "She's just running the bases, blue! What do you want her to do? Don't worry Sweetie, you were fine." Just like it is our fault when an infield fly is dropped, the base coaches don't...COACH...their runners and the runners take off an run into tags resulting in double or triple plays.
I run enough clinics where holding one more class isn't going to get me into any more trouble with the Misses.
Who thinks people would actually show up? I think in organizations like Little League they ought to make a parent/guardian of each child show up to something like this. Plus it is a good opportunity to show the parents that we aren't a munch of millionaires who just like to go out and get screamed at in 105 degree heat for calling their daughters out on strike 3. Rather, we are humans who put ourselves on public display on a regular basis for a nominal fee where our on-the-job-training is open to review by anyone who wants to see it; something that isn't true of virtually any other trade in this country.
Thoughts...