A total of 15 umpire training courses will be delivered by trainers from the British Association of Softball Umpires (BASU) on every weekend between March 16-17 and May 4-5 except for Easter weekend at the end of March, as slowpitch leagues around the country look to increase their pool of umpires for the coming season.
Seven of the scheduled courses will be one-day courses for league umpires, and eight will be two-day BASU qualifying courses, to be followed by an assessment for any umpires hoping to receive BASU qualification and work at weekend tournaments.
With training courses about to start for 2013, BASU Training Officer Chris Moon has issued a reminder to already-qualified umpires that they need to take the two-day qualifying course every four years if they wish to keep their BASU accreditation. Qualified umpires are also re-assessed on the field every two years.
One-day courses
The one-day league umpire courses on the BASU training schedule for 2013 are:
- Saturday, March 16 – Greater London Softball Mixed League
- Saturday, March 23 – Birmingham Softball League
- Saturday, April 6 – Greater London Softball Mixed League
- Sunday, April 7 – Greater London Softball Mixed League
- Saturday, April 13 – Swindon Softball League
- Saturday, April 13 – Bristol Softball Association
- Sunday, April 14 – Bristol Softball Association
Two-day courses
The two-day BASU qualifying courses on the training schedule are:
- March 23-24 – East Midlands Softball League
- April 6-7 – Windsor & Maidenhead Softball League
- April 13-14 – Jersey Softball Association
- April 20-21 – Bristol Softball Association
- April 20-21 – Solent Softball League
- April 20-21 – Greater London Softball Mixed League
- April 27-28 – Leeds Softball League
- May 4-5 – Manchester Softball League
Information
Anyone who would like more information about the umpire courses BASU can offer should contact Chris Moon on: chris.moon@britishsoftball.org.
Chris can also supply organiser details for the courses listed above for anyone who would like to sign up for a particular course.
Each of the courses has been requested by a league, but if spare places are available, leagues are generally happy to have them filled by people from outside.