Youth Umpires Keep the Action Moving at New City Little League

While most of the attention at New City Little League games usually goes to the players, league officials pay a lot of attention to another group of young people also on the field - youth umpires.

NCLL, like other leagues throughout Rockland County, uses a corps of teenagers ages 12 to 16 to serve as youth umpires to help officiate baseball and softball games. League officials at New City take pride in the youth umpire program and say efforts to boost the training have paid off.

Lee Roberts, one of the organizers of the league's umpiring program, says youth umpires play a major role during the regular season. Roberts said the youth umpires  serve as base officials assisting adult umpires who officiate at home plate for the 11-12 year old divisions and up.  The youth umpires can also serve as home plate umpires for the younger 8-9 and 10-11 year old divisions. 

Roberts said the youth umpires help ensure that local games are fun - and safe. He said that with training provided by the league, youth umpires improve their understanding of Little League rules and learn how to position themselves on the field to make the right call.

During the regular season, it's easy to spot student athletes from both Clarkstown North and Clarkstown South high schools serving as youth umpires on the baseball fields at Zukor Park or on the softball fields at Strawtown Fields in New City.

The youth umpire initiative is run by Roberts and Larry Kiel, chief umpires for NCLL. Kiel is primarily responsible for scheduling and assigning umpires to games for the area, while Roberts is primarily in charge of instructing and rating umpires.

For Roberts, "baseball is the greatest game," and he passes that love of the game onto his students.  With his 19 years of experience as an umpire, Roberts is the perfect instructor for the kids.  He not only knows the game inside and out, but is also a huge fan of the sport.  In addition to volunteering at NCLL, he is also on the board of Rockland ASA Umpires, which officiates baseball and softball games for New City and many other leagues throughout the county.

Roberts has volunteered at the NCLL for many years, though it was last year that he became chief umpire when NCLL President Lon Hofstein approached him and asked him to take the position and lead this training program. 

"I love the kids and I love the game," said Roberts. "I think that Little League is one of the greatest things a kid can get involved in."

In three March sessions at Zukor Park, Roberts instructs youth umpires in the various aspects of the game.  The first session lasts four hours in the classroom at the Street School at Zukor Park, where Roberts teaches the kids the rules and interpretations that necessary to deal with situations that develop on the field.

The next two sessions are held on the field, with the first focusing on positioning and the next exploring how to interpret a variety of scenarios.  These are very important according to Roberts, as "Nothing is really set in stone.  There's a lot of interpretation and judgment calls made by umpires."

After these sessions are completed, the youth umpires are assigned games to officiate.  The instruction does not stop there though, as Roberts and Kiel attend the games to provide feedback and rate their performance.  Feedback is given after the game, which  focuses on whether they recalled and interpreted a rule correctly as it pertained to the situation, and where the best positioning on the field to see the play would have been. 

The ratings denote a particular umpire's skill level, which effects the number and importance of the games they are assigned. Roberts said the updated training program has increased interest among teens to participate in the youth umpire program.

 "New City kids are some of the best youth umpires in the county because of the training," Roberts said.

Roberts said many of the Rockland ASA Umpires members who officiate games at New City Little League have told him they are pleased by the skill levels of the youth umpires.