Friday, October 6, 2006
Gavin Anderson
Fellow Umpires,
In the last twelve months, NBUA has experienced many changes in the way it does the business of umpiring baseball. Today I ask for your vote to instill and retain a certain level of experience and common sense to the NBUA Board of Directors. My recent absence from the board has allowed me to reflect upon what truly should be the goals for NBUA.
The focus of our organization should be centered upon its membership first. The NBUA is just as much my association as it is anyone else's. Each and every member should feel they are a wanted and needed part of this fine group. Quite frankly, we need to focus on our membership more than the board has been recently. NBUA needs each and every one of us umpires. Our customers need a top-notch umpiring product as well.
In recent years, I've seen our training and evaluation systems continue to help foster the careers of many new and veteran umpires. I'm proud to have been a part of training for so many of you. I would like to see an expansion in the tools trainers can utilize, development of a permanent curriculum, and continued training of instructors so that only the best methods are taught association-wide.
The recruiting efforts by Scott Johnson are nothing short of amazing. It is because of his personal drive and dedication, that the NBUA has enjoyed the ability to maintain and even grow its business.
I want to improve how the board communicates with its members. If elected, I will ensure that when you ask a question, you will get a complete answer. A generic answer of, "It was in the best interest of NBUA..." is not only cliché, but also lazy. I won't use a broad brush when answering questions, and I'm not afraid to answer the tough ones. Everyone deserves to know why certain actions are taking place, and who really will benefit from certain practices.
We also need to improve communication with our customers. The NBUA should be clear in what we expect from our customers both on and off the field. The liaison program has worked well, but should be expanded to include our attendance at each league's meeting.
An NBUA umpire should expect good baseball games to umpire, top-notch training available to them each year, annual evaluations, a consistent assigning process, a recognized availability, timely draws, a check when their season is done as well as a thank you from the association. Is this too much to ask? I don't believe it is.
I like to think of myself as an "umpire's umpire," one who you can depend upon in any battle. No umpire should have to worry about doing his job on the field to appease the customer or the board. We are a group that should support one another. We all have a tough job to do, and that's umpire baseball games--with integrity.
I believe that if you're looking for someone to do the hard work that's needed in improving the morale and environment that we umpire in, then you should vote for me.
I will always say that NBUA is an association of many different people, with different umpiring goals and varying life experience. But we all share one goal...and that is to get the call right--and have fun while doing it. I want to help make everyone's experience with NBUA a positive and rewarding one, and that is why I ask for your vote.