Where are our volunteers?

 

 

The heart of Little League is the volunteers; President, grounds keeper, score keeper, coach, manager, treasurer, player agents, umpires, team mom, snack bar duty, etc.  All of which are volunteers from the local communities and most of which have at least one child in the program.  These volunteers learn the positions they are in by reading the Little League operation manuals, rule books, local league guidelines, clinics available at the regional offices, online information from the Little League website, and help from current and previous holders of those positions and through their previous experiences in the program.  There are no Little League certifications or degrees required to be a volunteer.  With the heart of a volunteer and the confidence to be able to fulfill those assigned duties are all that is required.  Each person has their area of responsibility.  The individual volunteers in these positions, at a local Little League, make up the board of directors; the supporting entity of the local league. 

 

Some of these positions are easy to fill and some are not.  Some require more time than others.  But each has an important role that without it the program can run into issues that affect everyone in the program; and most of all, the children who are relying on us to make their experiences positive, good times to remember and to be reflected upon as the “summers to remember.”  The experiences we want to leave with these kids are ones we want to be proud of; as a community we made a difference in their lives.  These children are on the path of learning how to be better citizens and young adults with character, courage and loyalty qualities being developed.

 

The Role of the Parent as taken from the Little League Rule Book: “Parents must take the initiative to make the local program successful”…”Little League is an adult, volunteer work project constructed, supervised and assisted by parents who want to extend this benefit to their children. The parent who shirks this responsibility cannot, in turn, expect others to assume the burden.”  That being said, little league will not deny a child’s participation because the parent does not want to be directly involved in their own child’s development in this program.

 

There are plenty of ways the parent can become involved.  Completing the volunteer application is the first step.  Following through with a board member to find a piece of the program that they can participate in is the next step.  But the most important part of a parent’s participation is that of a positive support model at the field where these children are playing and practicing.  These children are very observant and are dry sponges absorbing the behavior of all the adults around them.   Let’s be vigilant in monitoring our behavior.

 

Umpires are hard to retain.  We are always asking “Where are the umpires for this game?”  “Who’s responsible for covering this game?”   Sometimes we rely upon the managers to make sure they have a set number of games to cover (in principle, a good idea).  And when they are unable to find coverage for a game they may be penalized with a game suspension (not a good idea).  Why?  Is it because they are the only ones that can be “punished” because he/she cannot find enough volunteers to help?  These managers are the most important individuals directly involved with the children under their care.  In effect we are punishing the children by not having their manager (primary role model, by default) at their game. They spend the most time with the kids and they are taken away from one of their games because a volunteer could not be found.  What other options are there?  Do we suspend the President because there are not enough volunteers?  Do we suspend the UIC because he/she is not personally umpiring every game not being covered (not their responsibility to umpire, but recruit and train umpires)?  Do we suspend the person in the snack bar or the grounds keeper?  After all they are volunteers, too.  Why the manager?  Team work comes to mind here.  Are we teaching these kids that it is one person’s (their manager’s) responsibility to make sure to find coverage for some else’s game?  Or should we be teaching the kids it takes the teamwork of the whole league to participate in every aspect of the program?   Why is so hard to get that volunteer to umpire a game or more than one game?

 

There are more people at these leagues who may be willing to volunteer as umpires than we realize.  Some do not know they can be involved.  Hard to believe, but true.  Those that have been around and are available may have already had that experience at that league.  Most do not want to get on the other side of the fence because of the abuse they received or see being given to those volunteers stepping up.

 

Well, here we are again asking “Where are the umpires?”

 

We can see and have identified the problem and now we know there is a solution to this problem.

 

Remember that the Board Members are the supporting entity at each league.  They must make sure that abusive behavior is not part of their league.  The parents’ most important “volunteer” role at the field is projecting a positive experience for the kids to see.  With just these two elements, we can retain more umpires and give them an opportunity to do more games to improve their ability and skills on the field.  If the umpires are continually being chased away, every game played may always have that first time umpire.  Umpires are not born with umpire skills as players have to develop their playing skills. Yesterday, today’s manager or coach was simply a parent. 

 

There are no Little League guidelines or references for designing or soliciting for a paid umpire program.  Little League is an all Volunteer program supported and run by the parents of the children.  If and when a local Little League becomes a business and pays for any part of its program, it has lost the focus and purpose of what Little League is about and can no longer, in good conscience, call itself Little League.  There are other programs of youth sports that have that model and are available for those that want to participate in that environment.  Let us not try to make our local Little Leagues something it was not meant to be and protect its true value.

 

How do we retain the umpires?  We train and educate everyone.  We make available an environment that is inviting for all participants; players, managers, coaches, umpires, fans (parents), etc.  

 

Provide training for the umpires and an environment that they desire to come back to.  With the parents and Board Members support that environment is easy to create.  Be supportive of the umpire regardless of the outcome.  Give them all an opportunity to improve their abilities as the players and coaching staff develop their abilities.  If that environment is not supported at each game being played, the board member on duty should be charged with the responsibility to remove the distraction.   Bear in mind that as adults, when we begin to notice something is not positive, the children have observed it long before we finally do.  Let’s not be put in the position of stopping the behavior before we think the children have observed it.  Let us simply not bring that element to the field.  

Problem solved?  If we remember Little League is for the children and we do everything we can as their role models to create a healthy, fun, and learning environment, we have solved the problem.

 

Remember that Little League is more than a game being played; but an environment for developing young, impressionable children into good citizens with Character, Courage and Loyalty.  If that model is not at a local league, the board members should take a reflective look at their program and purpose.

 

How can the District help your league develop umpires?

 

Every Fall each league has the option available to have a District Fall Ball Session clinic at their league.  This is designed as a local league recruitment tool to bring new volunteers into the folds of umpiring at your league.  This can be your leagues first step in developing new umpires.  These sessions are not your typical full-blown District umpire clinic you may have attended in the past.  It is truly an opportunity to have the new umpire understand why and where they should be on the field.  Often when the past typical spring clinics are through, those that have attended for the first time are more confused than they were prior to the clinic.   These fall sessions are designed to have the new umpire develop intuitively why they are where they should be and most importantly gets them on the field with a sense of comfort.  That’s it.  If scheduling permits, we would like to have these new umpires rotate in and out of fall ball games immediately following the short training session with feedback from trainers on the field with them.   These are not designed for experienced umpires to improve their umpiring skills, but rather, provides the experienced umpires or local UIC an opportunity to use these sessions as a tool to help them become trainers of their volunteers.

 

If you want some ideas for developing and retaining your volunteer umpires or want to schedule a clinic, please visit our website for contact information.  We want your league to be successful with a healthy learning environment for the children in your charge.

 

-Tom Lawrence

CA District 51 Southern UIC