Over the weekend I worked the Iowa Games, volunteering my time to umpire a 10 year old tournament game. None of the umpires there were being paid - teams were responsible for getting two umpires to umpire one game. There was no requirement for the umpires, the only thing they needed was a basic understanding of baseball.
When I went down to the fields, I noticed that that is exactly what teams brought; random fathers or people to umpire a game. Nothing wrong with that, if that was all that was requested. But then I started talking to people who saw that I was certified and the only person who looked official. They were telling me how poorly some of the umpires were calling games. Heck, even the guy I worked with missed some pretty blatant calls in the field.
However, how can anybody complain when the only requirement was to have a basic baseball knowledge?? You aren't paying these guys to work a game, so you are going to end up with some bums who will be out of position and not know what to look for. I'm sure this wasn't the case for everyone, but it's quite possible when the only person certified was me. People need to chill out - these are 10 year olds and when you aren't paying umpires, you are going to get poorly called games. Don't be so surprised when Johnny Fat Ass isn't at 3rd to make the call and blows the call. If you wanted a better game, then pay the umps - until then, you can't complain.
