Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Mentor Program 2006

By Brian Gooch
Vice President

It is never too early to start thinking about next season, and the mentoring team needs you!   This program was started over 15 years ago and has helped us tremendously in our retention of umpires. It has the largest group of volunteers in NBUA.

Imagine your first year as an umpire, raw, green, nervous, and perhaps a little scared. If you were fortunate to have a mentor who cared, you got by.  With another large recruiting class in the works, I need 50 of you to step up and get involved.  

The program is pretty simple, just flat out be there for the new person. I need volunteers who will pick up the phone and call the mentee, weekly. I DON"T need someone who says "call me if you have any questions." They need to know we care and want them to succeed!  

Some of the new recruits join and go back to Little League, some just want to learn rules, and some want to be like you and be a good official.  Perhaps we'll have another Mike Conrad, who at 14 years old did 39 games his first year and 72 games his second, or a Danny Oliver who got a job in pro ball after his first season. Or perhaps he will be a proud member of NBUA and give us many good years. You can be a part of this success!

Please send me an email and let me know you are willing to put in some time. I would like to have 1-2 mentors per new official. We can double team them. This is the easiest and most rewarding thing you can do for the profession. And it doesn't cost you anything except a little time. Email me, I'll be waiting: Moverguy100@msn.com