We just completed our first full day of training after having a lengthy orientation meeting last night. It's been very intense so far, as you might imagine. When I looked in the mirror when I was practicing my plate stance before dinner, I seriously looked older than I did this morning. Which is good, considering I look like one of the youngest people here, even though I'm about average. As for being short/small, a couple of the instructors (who are minor league umpires) are about as short as me. There are a couple of smallish people too, but it's very possible that I'm the lightest person here. I'm doing my part to change that though by getting seconds on every meal so far. About half of the students look like the average former baseball-playing 20-year olds. There are a decent number of older guys, a few guys from Japan, a few from Latin America one from France, one lady from Australia, and a few Canadians. So it's a pretty diverse crowd. I really enjoy hearing everyone's accents on calls. My roommate is from South Carolina. He's my age and has a fiancee. He knows a guy who used to be an instructor here, so he gave me a heads up on a couple things. I have no idea where he is right now.
As for the training, I've already learned a lot of things I've never been properly taught before about positioning and responsibilities on the field. One thing that's very clear to me is that I picked the right umpire school. The instructors are very clear, direct and helpful. The teaching philosophies make a lot of sense. And they're up front with you about what they're looking for in a prospective professional umpire. Hopefully I'll be able to take that and show them what they want to see. One surprising thing is that my volume hasn't been an issue so far. I know. Shocking. We'll see how that holds up over the next month. Anyway, back to studying and practicing for me. And maybe some football.
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