Mid
Atlantic Collegiate Space Coast Camp In Cocoa Beach A Success!!
(As seen through the eyes of Bob Batchelor, Camp attendee)
There
can only be one word that can describe The Mid Atlantic Collegiate Umpires
Space Coast Umpire Camp 1999, without selling it short. The only
word that comes to mind is “Outstanding”.
I
left my home in Northern Virginia, on the morning of November 13th.
My truck was loaded with all the necessities I determined that I
needed for the 14 hour drive down I-95 and the upcoming week in Cocoa
Beach, Florida. It didn’t
take very long to realize that I should have purchased an airplane ticket
in advance. Transportation to the camp’s various locations for training
and actual games was to be provided by the Space Coast Camp Support
Team. The first of many lessons was learned.
I arrived one day early in Cocoa Beach so
I could recover from the exhausting drive.
I relaxed in the accommodations I would be staying for the week.
After checking into the Howard Johnson Express, I played tourist and drove
around this lovely little Beach community. The rest of the day was spent
preparing for the upcoming events. I slept soundly.
Sunday evening after all the campers settled in, we had our first
meeting at the Doubletree Towers conference room. This would be our daily
classroom training area for the week.
Our MAC instructors gave excellent
presentations. Overhead projectors, slides, a chalkboard, and handouts
were used during classroom to insure all course materials were seen and
learned by all students of the camp. None of our instructors failed with
their artwork renderings on the chalkboard.
The
next part of our day was spent on the baseball field. The coaches and
staff of Merritt Island High School and the Brevard County Baseball were
gracious enough to allow us use of their baseball facilities for a fee.
This was one heck of a high school facility. It was second to none I’ve
ever seen. You have to remember that you are in Baseball Country and home
of the 1999 Division 5A Champions! Even
the Rollins College facilities were tremendous.
They had a beautiful complex that included protective cages and
screens on the field and full locker rooms, offices and trainer’s rooms
built in.
Training
on the field consisted of applying material that was presented in the
classroom to actual positions on the field. Instructors set up small
groups of umpires at each station. After demonstrating the aspect of each
unique situation and the mechanics that needed to be performed, the
instructors supervised each member of their group until the group as a
whole got it down. Stations 
were set up at first, second, third, home and
in the cage. Group rotations were made so every group could go through
every station that needed to be done for the day.
What made this instruction most effective was that we were first
presented the material in a classroom.
The classroom was followed by demonstrations by the instructors.
Following the demonstrations the students were required to practice
and perfect each and every exercise.
After
lunch it was back to business and rotating of the stations. This was where
the instructors really shined in their knowledge of baseball umpiring in
three man mechanics. Repeatedly the students threw questions and
situations at the instructors and the instructors never failed to answer,
show, or demonstrate why they were the instructors and we were the
students.
The day proceeded with students taking the roles of
base runners, fielders and umpires in mock situations of real life
baseball. Is it any wonder why we never made it to “The Show” as
ballplayers?
At
the end of the day’s training at the field, students had assignments to
actually umpire baseball games at two local fields. Some students would be
assigned high school varsity level games at Merritt Island High School
while others were assigned a college game at Rollins College.
Both locations gave the student umpires a chance to apply their
knowledge of the camp material covered that day and their performance
evaluated by the MAC instructors. For
most students, this camp ran from 8 AM to about 8 PM for 6 straight days.
Finally,
on the last two days of the camp, all the classes, demonstrations, and
drills came together in a way that all of the students were challenged not
only as individual umpires but also as teams or crews.
On Friday, the instructors demonstrated all of the key rotations
that were learned during the week. Later
we ran the “Red, white, and blue drill.”
This is where umpires had to show how well they could actually
umpire in situations that changed on every play.
Later on Friday, one crew in a sudden death play off represented
each team of umpires. And
finally, each student had the chance to work up to three more live
baseball games under the close supervision of the MAC instructor staff.
For
whatever reasons you had for attending this camp, I think everyone came
away from sunny Florida with more than a sun tan.
Everyone learned more about umpiring, more about three-man
mechanics and even more about themselves. In addition to mechanics, we
were presented rules, situations, extensive valuable lessons on handling
on field problems, and even a class on how the game is played and coached
at a high level. Camp instructors made it clear from the onset, that by just
attending this camp that attendees were not guaranteed any promotion to
any level of baseball. It was also stressed that it could only make each
one a stronger umpire. The purpose of this camp was to teach and
familiarize umpires with the intimacies of working three man mechanics and
to enhance the performance of any crew or individual umpire.
In
closing, I think that Mid Atlantic Collegiate Umpires Space Coast Camp was
a total success for 1999 and can only improve in the future.
Special thanks goes out to all instructors, support staff, coaches
and staff at Merritt Island High and Rollins College.
Rumor
had it that a Hollywood movie star made an appearance there this year. Did
anyone get Joe Pesci’s autograph?
Take
care,