Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Mike Brancheau
It has been my pleasure and honor to serve as a Director of NBUA for the past 5 years. Now I ask for your support in re-electing me to another two year term.
The most important quality a Director must have is the willingness and ability to put in the time and work necessary to keep NBUA great. Here is a list of the tasks that I, along with others, have taken on in support of the membership. As you consider these, I hope you conclude that my performance demonstrates I am worthy of your confidence and continued support.
Director of Training 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009. Many positive changes and enhancements were made in our Training Program over the past 4 years. Some of these include:
Train the Trainer - A comprehensive half day seminar prior to training season for all staff.
Member Focus Groups to help ascertain areas and subjects that needed to be presented.
Development of Course Materials and Individual Classes for instruction - Most were available for member review well in advance of training dates.
Creative and Appropriate use of Staff and Skill sets. We are so fortunate to claim so many talented professional umpires, and we are always thrilled that they share their training and experiences with us. Additionally, we expanded our staff by utilizing professional educators and members with specific skill sets (rules, for example) to help assure interesting and quality instruction.
Improved management of on field and cage training.
It is important for me to also note that none of these improvements would have been possible without the help and support of the many skilled members of NBUA who step up annually and support our training program. They all hate me for bugging them so incessantly, but the results for you the members is worthwhile.
Fall Ball Coordinator - For the past 5 years I managed and coordinated our 3 man volunteer fall ball program.
Mariner Cup Umpire Coordinator – For the past 4 years, in collaboration with our Assignor, I coordinated our umpires participation in Mariner Cup games at Safeco field. This has been a wildly successful endeavor and over these 4 years we have enabled over 35 of our deserving members to work high level games at Safeco Field.
In conclusion I would like to reflect on the four key issues I presented four years ago that should be of greatest importance to the membership. They remain relevant and each member should assess how each candidate will manage these criteria.
1. Do we have games to work? The Board must nurture our existing customer relationships and grow our customer base. We should have games available for all levels of our officials.
2. Do we have trained and qualified umpires to work these games? We must remain successful in bringing in new umpires and in improving the professional skills of our veteran umpires. We must assure our members of a fair system for advancement to higher tiers.
3. Do we have a fair game assignment process?
4. Are we fairly compensated for the games we work? Negotiating the fees we charge our customers and pay to our umpires is a key responsibility of the Board. Equally important is maintaining our financial solvency and proper fiscal management.
My commitment to this membership is to work diligently to support and strengthen each of these key elements and to work to support each of you; doing everything I can to strengthen NBUA. I welcome any questions you may have. mikebran@gmail.com
Please re-elect Mike Brancheau to another term on the NBUA Board of Directors.