Friday 1:15pm-2pm

Canadian Championships and Local Tournaments - What to Look For.

This presentation is a look at what the Canadian Championship UICs and DUICs observed at Canadian Championships. Gaps in mechanics knowledge that have appeared in Canadian Championships are also present in local tournaments, provincial tournaments and Eastern and Western Championships. What can we do to identify and correct those deficiencies? It will be a session of ideas and solutions from you and from the ODC.

presented by: Doug Cundall (ODC, SC Level IV SP/FP, Ontario)

You Are Who You Are

Your makeup or your personality starts to take shape when you are only a child. Your parents, your immediate and extended family start influencing you right from the start. The community you live in made up of the neighbourhood (adults and children), your friends, the church, the school, the community club, your teachers and coaches also play a part in your overall development. Personality development has to be nurtured and guided. There are situations and pitfalls along the way and how you handle them and how you are mentored or guided will shape you as a person. Who you are will be reflected in the kind of individual you are. How do you get along with others? Are you a leader at work? Are you a role model for others? Are you respectful of others and are you willing to reach out and assist others? Are you a fair and just person? Are you a good person, a reliable and responsible friend, spouse and father? Does the aforementioned information affect your role as an umpire? It is my personal opinion that it does! Can a person change his/her makeup or personality? After spending many years of supervising, mentoring and evaluating young people and adults in all walks of life, I don’t believe you can change a person’s overall makeup or personality. However, it is possible to make some adjustments in a person’s makeup in order to attain success! What do you think? The purpose of this workshop will be to discuss and share umpires personalities and makeup and in what ways we can assist umpires to achieve and maintain success both on and off the diamond.

presented by: Charlie Kurtz (SC/ISF Level V FP, Manitoba)

The 10 most common Umpire mistakes and How to avoid them.

presented by: Lou Davis(SC/ISF Level V FP, Nova Scotia)

Friday 2:15pm-3pm

Officiating in the Age of Google

For many, the Internet is at once both a powerful and an intimidating place. In his landmark book “The World is Flat”, author Thomas Friedman outlined how the emergence of the web and the changing nature of information has created a whole new story of what it means to work, play and learn in the global community of the 21st century. Join us as we explore how this fundamental shift in how the world interacts and connects has changed the way we can work, learn and share in the officiating community. We’ll explore how you can “flatten” your local or provincial association by leveraging web tools and social networking platforms to reach your members and grow your program. We’ll also look at a few of the technology and web-based training and information opportunities available to the umpiring community and, finally, we’ll peek into some of the possibilities for a new narrative of officiating in the future.

presented by: Jeff Wipple (SC/ISF Level V FP, New Brunswick)

Continuing to Strive to your Goals

What are goals?? Why are goals important?? How do we as individuals initiate goal setting?? When we begin the goal setting process, where do we go for guidance?? Are the goals that I am setting "My" goals, or are they goals that someone else sees me fitting?? Are my goals "SMART"?? As I start to achieve some of my goals do I revisit them?? These are just a few of the questions that we will be discussing in this presentation. I look forward to the dialogue that we can create.

presented by: Gary Skjerven (SC/ISF Level V FP, Saskatchewan)

Umpire Q & A Forum

presented by: Kathy Strahm, Kevin Ryan (ASA), Brian Van Os (SC NDU) and Bruce Bierman (SC Level V FP, Ontario)

Friday 3:15-4pm

Umpiring the Big Boys - the Serge LaFlamme Way

1) Definition of Game Control. When does it start, the way to see it, being flexible but firm. 2) How to be prepared to face Coaches and players. The approachability, how to speak how to look at people, the way to manage angry coaches, how to deal with warnings and ejections. 3) How to be prepared to face Confrontations. The preparation before the game, and the reaction. 4) How to respond - to react. The way to manage the words we use. 5) The body language. How to look confident and persuasive. 6) The Approach of the game. How do we see the participants (coaches, players, media, ground`s crew, scorekeeper, spectators)? 7) The "TOUGH" calls. Selling calls, resuming the game. 8) Our behaviour ON and OFF the field. Showing approachability, professionalism, where we can go and where we can`t, respecting everyone`s opinion. 9) Selling our decisions, selling ourselves. Making a sell speech, preparing to sell a refrigerator to Eskimos. 10) How to show Confidence and professionalism.

presented by: Serge LaFlamme (SC/ISF Level V FP, Quebec)

What to say and When to say it

presented by: Brent Chadwick and Frank Omoe (SC/ISF Level V FP, Saskatchewan / Alberta)

Many verbal exchanges happen during the course of a game. This presentation will examine very basic verbal communication during routine situations and extend to those potentially volatile situations involving players, coaches and even other umpires. Those attending the presentation will learn that saying the right thing at the right time will often keep the umpire out of trouble and get the game moving again. Particular emphasis will be placed on what an umpire can say during the initial moments of a situation as this is often a good indicator of how the exchange will go. This lively and interactive session will feature audio and visual examples of actual game situations.

Case Plays – the Game Show

presented by: Grant Hood (SC/ISF Level V FP, Alberta)

This presentation is based on the popular game show Jeopardy. Three volunteer contestants from the audience will play for prizes like on the show. There will be five categories (Interference, Base running, etc.) and questions within each category will be based on plays from the Softball Canada Casebook or rule interpretations that have been made during the past year. As an added feature, should the contestant provide the correct ruling within the allowed time, he/she will then be eligible to receive bonus points based on their response to “a coach” regarding their ruling. The bonus points will be awarded by a three-person panel (the “Protest/Judging Committee”). In addition to the answer, the audience and contestants will be given clarifications on the rule and tips on handling coaches in each of the situations if needed. It is anticipated that those attending this session will learn about various rules and how to handle coaches in different situations while having some fun along the way.

Sat 9am-9:45am

Fast Pitch/Slo-Pitch – What’s the difference?

presented by: Len Gorgei (ODC, SC/ISF Level V SP, Ontario)

Team Work

Gerry Zvonkin and Jeff Klooster

Plate Mechanics

presented by: Craig Cress (ASA) and Kevin Ryan (ASA)

Sat 10am-10:45am

What You can do to improve Your Umpiring

presented by: Aaron Poulin (SC/ISF Level V FP, British Columbia)

Living On The Edge -Working The Bases

Working the bases is more difficult than we think. We all understand that the foundation of umpiring is to be at the right place at the right time, but how can we do that 99.9% of the time? When working the bases, we have to be in constant evaluation of our position versus where the next play will be. There is a lot of rapid movement and long distance to cover. Base umpires are chronically living on the edge of falling into a bad situation. This presentation will sharpen your thinking on how to work on the leading edge. A base has four sides. There is one side that the runner is least likely to tag. This means we need to work with and prepare to cover only three of the sides. In this presentation, we will explain how the umpire can recognize, prepare for and set for the most probable leading edge and wait for the play to develop. Once a play develops, the leading edge may change. The ready position has to be renewed every time a runner approaches a base, reaches a base or rounds that base. Living on the edge is never ending. Everyone in umpiring has heard of doing the “rocking chair.” Well, we will give that old expression new meaning, and everyone will do the movement every time around every base. Everyone likes to rock!! Next summer everybody in Canada will “ROCK” around the bases and live on the edge!

presented by: Lucie Carmichael (SC Level V FP, Quebec) and Kathy Strahm

Obstruction: Don’t Get Caught Napping!

When was the last time you made an Obstruction (OB) call? How was it handled? Did you smoothly communicate the infraction or awkwardly stumble through it? Did you have any doubts after making the call? Were you swarmed by unfriendly types in a hurry. Lots of questions…but there are answers… Obstruction in our game is taking root. Players and coaches know how to slow runners down and it is happening right in-front of our eyes. Softball Canada umpires have taken a world-wide lead in enforcing this infraction; however, it is one of the most challenging calls for blue to make. Don’t get caught napping… In this seminar, I will use softball images from around the world to help you understand your role as an umpire and how best to prepare yourself for what many declare, one of the toughest calls in the game. You’ll learn the various game scenarios and circumstances that increase the likelihood of obstruction taking place so that you can be ready to make the call. Questions as below will be addressed in a manner that requires you to actively reflect and participate: • How frequent is OB in a game? • Does contact have to take place for OB to be called? • What if the fielder lines up in a runner’s line of sight on a fly ball tag scenario, does this constitute OB? • When is a dead ball declared on an OB? • How can an umpire prevent an obstruction from occurring?

presented by: Mitch Zuk (SC/ISF Level V FP, Ontario)

Sat 11am-11:45am

Stress… what STRESS?

As umpires we do not have stress in our lives. The home front is always content and the children are spoiled and the animals are taken care of. Fans, players and coaches always compliment us on all of our games. We never have problems on or off the diamond. We always make the right call well at least 50 % of the time. In this session we will learn how stress in our life can either hinder or motivate us to be better officials.

presented by: Murray Patzwald (SC Level IV FP, Saskatchewan)

The Blue Team - the Best team on the Diamond

presented by: Bonnie Gostola (ODC, SC/ISF Level V FP, Alberta)

In this workshop we will investigate the best ways to communicate with our fellow teammates, the Blue Crew. There will be opportunity to practice techniques for having success within the structure of a crew. WE, as umpires, have a standard that starts at perfect and improvesfrom there. In this session I will help the umpire to identify better methods of communicating with their counterparts and will also touch on how to deal with coaches. The result will help produce a product on the field for which we can all be proud.

presented by: Bonnie Gostola (ODC, SC/ISF Level V FP, Alberta)

Blue - Help me make this change! Line-Ups Substitutions and Re-Entries

presented by: Stephen Doyle (SC Level V SP, Ontario)

Sat 1:15-2pm

Umpiring the Big Boys the Serge LaFlamme Way

presented by: Serge LaFlamme (SC/ISF Level V FP, Quebec)

What to say and When to say it

presented by: Brent Chadwick and Frank Omoe (SC/ISF Level V FP, Saskatchewan / Alberta)

Officiating in the Age of Google

presented by: Jeff Wipple (SC/ISF Level V FP, New Brunswick)

Sat 2:15-3:15pm

Respect My Game

Softball Ontario launched its Respect My Game Program in May - an innovative program geared to create and build mutual respect between all participants in the great game of Softball. Softball Ontario’s Respect My Game Program was funded by the Ministry of Health Promotion specifically Active 2010, which assisted in the development and launching of the ground breaking “Respect My Game” Program. The following free resources are part of the program: • The Respect My Game Card • The Respect My Game Umpire Card • Respect My Game Posters • Respect My Game Guide for Parents and Guide for Coaches • Respect My Game Code of Conduct for Players of the Game • The Respect My Game Clinic Manual • The Respect My Game Brochure The “Respect My Game” Program will be included in all of Softball Ontario’s training opportunities including the Umpires’ Program, the Coaches’ Program, the Scorekeeping Program and Certified Softball Administrator Program. By incorporating the “Respect My Game” program into all the technical components of the game and making the resources available for free online, the ideals of this cutting edge program will permeate throughout the entire softball community. For more information about the Respect My Game Program, please contact Steph Sutton at ssutton@softballontario.ca, or call 416-416-7150.

presented by: Peter Kluszczynski (SC LV) and Jack VanBynen (SC/ISF Level V FP, Ontario)

Working the Diamond - A Female Perspective

This forum will discuss many of the issues that confront female officials on the diamond. Together, the forum participants will work on strategies to help female officials achieve more success.

Women’s Focus Group – Kelly Hunter (SC/ISF Level V FP, British Columbia), Leslie Pipher (SC Level IV FP, Ontario) and Frankie Billingsly (SC Level IV, Ontario)

Keys to Success - Mistakes to Avoid

Ever wonder why some umpires advance faster than others? Ever wonder where they learned the tips, tricks and paths to achieve their goals? A session not to be missed: Keys to Success - Mistakes to Avoid

presented by: Bob Henning (SC/ISF Level V FP, British Columbia) and Al Strang (SC Level V FP, British Columbia)