1. UMPIRES MANUAL  REMOVES ALL THE “X’s”  NO MORE ROTE MEMORY UMPIRES  MUST NOW BE A THINKING UMPIRE

2. DEAD BALL SITUATIONS AT THE PLATE  MAINTAIN CONSTANT ALERTNESS TO THE POSSIBILITIES OF THESE PLAYS  HAVE A CLEARLY DEFINED UNDERSTANDING OF THE RULE  KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BASING YOUR JUDGMENT ON (CRITERIA)

3. DEAD BALL SITUATIONS AT THE PLATE  KNOW WHAT THE PENALTIES ARE  BE PREPARED TO RESPOND TO QUESTIONS

4. HIT BY A PITCH  BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT GOES TO THE BATTER!!!!  99% OF THE TIME, GIVE HER 1B IF HIT IN THE BATTER’S BOX.  THE BOX BELONGS TO THE BATTER, NOT ANY PITCHED BALL.

5. HIT BY A PITCH  95% OF THE TIME, GIVE HER 1B WHEN HIT OVER THE PLATE AREA UNLESS:  SHE TRIES TO GET HIT  SHE IS IN THE STRIKE ZONE  SHE IS SWINGING  DON’T GET IMAGINATIVE TRYING TO THINK OF REASONS TO KEEP HER AT THE PLATE.  Most Batters should get 1b!!!!

6. CHECKED SWING  PLATE UMPIRE’S PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY IS:  TO TRACK THE PITCHED BALL.  SECONDARY RESPONSIBILITY IS:  THE CHECKED SWING

7. CHECKED SWING  ASK, DON’T WAIT TO BE ASKED  DON’T ASSUME THEY WILL ASK – GO! GET HELP

8. CHECKED SWING  IT CANNOT BE CONSIDERED A CHECKED SWING UNLESS:  IT IS AN EFFORT TO STOP AN ATTEMPT TO HIT THE BALL  IF IT IS AN ATTEMPT TO GET OUT OF THE WAY AND THE BAT CROSSES THE STRIKE ZONE, IT IS?????????

9. CHECKED SWING  NOT A CHECKED SWING!!!

10. THE PECKING ORDER OF TOLERANCE FFOR ANY SITUATION THAT NEEDS TO BE HANDLED, USE THE ON SITE ADMINISTRATOR LLET THEM DO THEIR JOB AND TAKE CARE OF ALL PROBLEMS OFF THE FIELD

11. THE PECKING ORDER OF TOLERANCE  HEAD COACH  LOT’S AND LOT’S OF TOLERANCE

12. THE PECKING ORDER OF TOLERANCE  ASSISTANT COACH  LOT’S OF TOLERANCE  AN ASSISTANT IN A COACHES BOX  A SPECIFIC TYPE ASSISTANT  PITCHING COACH  OUTFIELD COACH

13. THE PECKING ORDER OF TOLERANCE  STARTING PLAYERS  SOME TOLERANCE  FANS  NEARLY COMPLETE TOLERANCE  EVERYONE ELSE  ABOUT ZERO TOLERANCE

14. THE HOME RUN RULE TTHE HOME RUN IS NOT A SIGN TO STOP UMPIRING AND SAVOR THE MOMENT UUMPIRES STILL HAVE A JOB TO DO. YOU STILL NEED TO “KEEP WORKING.”

15. THE HOME RUN RULE  ROTATE IF THE CONFIGURATION CALLS FOR IT  WORK AHEAD SEEING RUNNERS TOUCH ALL BASES  GO TO THE BASE WITH (PREFERABLY AHEAD) OF THE RUNNERS

16. FITNESS OF OFFICIALS  THE NCAA WANTS COACHES AND PLAYERS TO RESPECT US PHYSICALLY.  REVERSING THIS TREND BENEFITS US IN TWO AREAS:  PHYSICALLY  MENTALLY

17. FITNESS OF OFFICIALS  PHYSICALLY  QUICKNESS, SPEED  ENERGY  STAMINA  INJURY PREVENTION  INJURY RECOVERY

18. FITNESS OF OFFICIALS  MENTALLY  FOCUS  CONCENTRATION  MENTAL STAMINA

19. REQUIREMENTS FOR 2008  REGIONAL RULES CLINIC ATTENDANCE MANDATORY  ON-LINE RULES AND MECHANICS TEST  80% OR BETTER  SUIP EVALUATION CURRENT & ON FILE

20. ON-LINE TEST  EXCEL SPORTS OFFICIATING-ESO  WWW.EOFFICIALS.COM WWW.EOFFICIALS.COM  AVAILABLE FROM 1 FEB-MAR 15, 2008  50 QUESTIONS RANDOMLY ASSIGNED FROM A POOL OF 100  OPEN BOOK TEST FOR RULES & MECHANICS

21. ON-LINE TEST  EXCEL SPORTS OFFICIATING-ESO  2008 TEST ALL TRUE / FALSE  2009 TEST MULTIPLE CHOICE  NO TIME LIMIT  999 UNLIMITED SETTINGS  2 COMPLETE SUBMISSIONS  RED SUBMIT BUTTON == DANGER  CAN ONLY CLICK TWICE FOR 2 SUBMISSIONS

22. SUIP EVALUATIONS  SUIP WILL NO LONGER INVITE UMPIRES FOR EVALUATION AT SPECIFIC TOURNAMENTS  WILL NOW LOOK AT ROSTERS FOR ALL TOURNAMENTS TO DETERMINE IF IT JUSTIFIES TRAVEL BY THE SUIP TO DO THE EVALUATIONS

23.  CURRENT AND PAST PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS  OFF-FIELD BEHAVIOR (PROFESSIONALISM)  STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE  NCAA REGIONAL UMPIRE CLINIC ATTENDANCE  TEST SCORE

24.  DIVISIONS II & I REGULAR-SEASON EXPERIENCE  DIVISION II AND/OR DIVISION I POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE  DIVISION III POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE  DIV II AND I CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE  NJCAA OR NAIA EXPERIENCE

25. RECOMMENDED BY AT LEAST ONE:  A DIVISION II OR I CONFERENCE FOR WHICH THE UMPIRE IS OR HAS BEEN ASSIGNED  A DIVISION II INSTITUTION FOR WHICH THE UMPIRE IS OR HAS BEEN ASSIGNED  AN NCAA DIVISION II SOFTBALL COMMITTEE MEMBER

26. FOOD FOR THOUGHT  KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO GET TO THE TOP  START AT THE BOTTOM AND WORK YOUR WAY UP  BE CAREFUL WHO YOU STEP ON / OVER ON YOUR WAY TO THE TOP BECAUSE……  ONE DAY YOU WILL NEED HELP FROM THEM AND NO-ONE WILL BE THERE TO LEND YOU A HAND