All,

This letter is to inform you we have a new Umpire in Chief for this season.

His name is Kevin De Ceuninck.

Kevin has more than 20 years experience with umpiring including being an MHSAA, AABC and USSSA registered umpire.

He has also coached several levels of baseball including recreation, travel and high school.

After relocating from Macomb County in 2008, he is excited about an opportunity to get involved with youth baseball in Howell.

We are very fortunate to have attracted such a qualified person to fill this board position.

Future communications concerning HAJBA Umpiring will be coming from Kevin directly. J

If you are interested in umpiring for us this season, please complete the online umpire application form located here:

http://www.howellbaseball.org/Umpire_Application.htm

This is how the Umpire training will work.

In order to umpire for us, you must be at least 11 years old, and have 2 seasons of baseball/softball playing experience.

For “”Rookie Baseball Umpires” (those with 2 or less seasons of umpiring experience), they will be required to attend (3) classes.

The first class will be a (3) hour class that will go over rules, and what our expectations from our umpires will be. This class will be designated as “Class 1-Baseball” on the calendar. This class will take place on Saturday February 25^th and again on Thursday March 1^st. You only need to attend (1) of these classes.

The second class will be a (1) hour class that will go over questions that will be on the online baseball umpire test that you will need to pass with a grade of 75% in order to umpire for us this season. This class will be designated as “Class 2-Baseball” on the calendar. This class will take place on Saturday March 3^rd. There will only be (1) date for this class.

The third class will be a (1.5) hour class that will cover on field mechanics. The dates for these classes will be communicated in the coming weeks.

So once a “Rookie” umpire has attended these (3) classes and passed the online baseball umpire test with at least a 75% grade, they will be eligible to umpire for HAJBA baseball games this season.

For “Experienced Baseball Umpires” (those with 3 or more seasons of umpiring experience), they will be required to attend (2) classes.

The first class will be a (3) hour class that will go over rules, and what our expectations from our umpires will be. This class will be designated as “Class 1-Baseball” on the calendar. This class will take place on Saturday February 25^th and again on Thursday March 1^st. You only need to attend (1) of these classes.

The second class will be a (1.5) hour class that will cover on field mechanics. The dates for these clinics will be communicated in the coming weeks.

So once an “Experienced Baseball Umpire” has attended these (2) classes and passed the online baseball umpire test with at least a 75% grade, they will be eligible to umpire for HAJBA baseball games this season. If you would like to attend the “Class 2-Baseball” class to review the test questions, you are welcome to, but not required to. The baseball umpire test for this season will be different than the test from previous seasons!

For “”Rookie Softball Umpires” (those with 2 or less seasons of umpiring experience), they will be required to attend (3) classes.

The first class will be a (3) hour class that will go over rules, and what our expectations from our umpires will be. This class will be designated as “Class 1-Softball” on the calendar. This class will take place on Saturday March 3rd and again on Thursday March 8th. You only need to attend (1) of these classes.

The second class will be a (1) hour class that will go over questions that will be on the online umpire test that you will need to pass with a grade of 75% in order to umpire for us this season. This class will be designated as “Class 2-Softball” on the calendar. This class will take place on Saturday March 10th. There will only be (1) date for this class.

The third class will be a (1.5) hour class that will cover on field mechanics. The dates for these classes will be communicated in the coming weeks.

So once a “Rookie Softball Umpire” has attended these (3) classes and passed the online softball umpire test with at least a 75% grade, they will be eligible to umpire for HAJBA softball games this season.

For “Experienced Softball Umpires” (those with 3 or more seasons of umpiring experience), they will be required to attend (2) classes.

The first class will be a (3) hour class that will go over rules, and what our expectations from our umpires will be. This class will be designated as “Class 1-Softball” on the calendar. This class will take place on Saturday March 3rd and again on Thursday March 8th. You only need to attend (1) of these classes.

The second class will be a (1.5) hour class that will cover on field mechanics. The dates for these clinics will be communicated in the coming weeks.

So once an “Experienced Softball Umpire” has attended these (2) classes and passed the online softball umpire test with at least a 75% grade, they will be eligible to umpire for HAJBA softball games this season. If you would like to attend the “Class 2-Softball” class on Saturday March 10^th to review the test questions, you are welcome to, but not required to. The softball umpire test for this season will be different than the test from previous seasons!

Additional information concerning these classes and umpiring in general will be provided to umpires that complete an online umpire application form for the 2012 season.

If you have any other HAJBA umpire related questions, please direct them to Kevin De Ceuninck at kevdec@yahoo.com.