This weekend four intrepid Wolves braved the early mornings, clocks going back and tube engineering works to spend two days learning all about the noble art of softball umpiring. Tucked away in The Hub in the middle of Regents Park, Alison, Julian Matt and myself - along with a few familiar faces from Comer's Homers completed the BASU two day course.
I went on the one day introductory course two years ago but as a rookie at the time most of it went straight over my head. Things seemed to fall into place a little more this time. From judging fair and foul balls to dealing with appeals, from delayed dead balls to the infamous infield fly ball - we covered them all.
The practical drills were really useful and good fun - knowing where to position yourself seems to be half the battle and of course remembering to not only to make the right call but to do it with confidence.
The cold, wind and drizzle hampered our practice a little on the Saturday, but by Sunday afternoon the sun had come out and we all had a proper go at umpiring during a very enjoyable, albeit muddy game to finish off the weekend.
I'm quite keen to give my umpiring skills a bit of a testing out now, and I'd recommend the course for anyone - it's great for learning the rules, understanding plays and meeting new softball pals!
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