CONFERENCE USA BASEBALL UMPIRES POLICIES The administration of Conference USA baseball umpires shall be directed by the Commissioner s designee, and the Coordinator of Umpires. The Conference baseball umpires program shall be conducted in accordance with NCAA rules and requirements. Umpires. a. Application. Umpires who did not work the previous season in Conference USA shall make written application to the Conference and be approved by the Coordinator of Umpires. The following criteria will be used to consider umpires invited to join the Conference in the future: (1) NCAA Division I postseason umpire experience; (2) NCAA Division I conference umpire experience; (3) Professional baseball umpire experience; (4) NCAA Division I non-conference umpire experience; (5) NCAA annual rules test scores; and (6) NCAA annual Umpire Improvement Program meeting attendance record. Geographic location may also be a consideration. b. Conflicts of interest. An umpire assigned by the Conference, shall neither socialize with, nor be employed by, student-athletes, employees or representatives of athletics interests of institutions participating in Conference baseball and shall at all times avoid conduct that would compromise or appear to compromise the umpire's impartiality or credibility. c. General. The umpires that are assigned to Conference baseball games shall consist of individuals assigned by the Coordinator of Umpires. The total number of umpires shall be determined by the Commissioner s designee, and the Coordinator of Umpires. d. Institutional staff restriction. An individual who is employed by a member institution shall not umpire games in Conference USA. e. Insurance. The Conference shall have no responsibility for maintaining insurance coverage for the benefit of the umpire. The umpire shall provide his own medical and health insurance, which shall include coverage for any accident suffered or injury sustained while umpiring. The umpire shall also be responsible for maintaining comprehensive general liability insurance in an amount equal to not less than $250,000 per occurrence and $1,000,000 in the aggregate per annum. The umpire agrees to provide evidence of insurance coverage to the Commissioner upon request. f. Philosophy. Umpires are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that is above reproach that demonstrates the ethics and sportsmanship necessary to be an official.
g. Physical examination. Each umpire is required to undergo a complete physical examination on an annual basis and submit certification of the exam to the Conference office on forms to be provided by the Conference. h. Prohibition against gambling. An umpire assigned to a Conference game shall not be involved with wagering related to the outcome of any athletics contests. Failure to adhere to the provisions of this policy shall be grounds for immediate cancellation of all assignments. i. Relationship with Conference. The umpire is an independent contractor and not an employee of the Conference for that season only. As an independent contractor, the umpire shall not be entitled to participate in any employee benefit plans or fringe benefits established by the Conference for its employees. Aside from contractual obligations to the Conference, the umpire shall be free to devote time and attention to such activities as the umpire deems appropriate, including umpiring games of other conferences and athletic associations. j. Rules/Rules knowledge. In games assigned by the Conference, no umpire shall deviate from the baseball rules and regulations of the NCAA and the regulations herein set forth unless permission is specifically granted by the Coordinator of Umpires and the Commissioner. Umpires are expected to be well versed in current NCAA baseball rules and points of emphasis and to apply same consistently. k. Tobacco. NCAA and Conference rules strictly prohibit the use of tobacco products during practice and competition by coaches, student-athletes and umpires. This will be strictly enforced. l. Uniform. It is the responsibility of the crew chief to ensure the crew is dressed consistently. Umpires shall provide the following basic uniform: Black base or plate shoes (contrasting white manufacturer s logos on shoes are acceptable) Black socks Charcoal Gray slacks Black belt Black or gray ball bag(s) Black short sleeve shirt with white trim Black undershirt, black crew neck or black turtle neck should be worn under shirt or pullover Black plate coat or shell pullover may be worn on plate Black sized C-USA hat (black sized Pro Mesh C-USA hat is permissible) Black gloves as needed Black foul weather hood or ear protector as needed Optional shirt is the black long sleeve shirt with white trim. Optional shirt is the light blue short sleeve shirt with black trim. Optional pullovers include the black shell with white trim over the shoulder worn tucked-in; or the removable/short-sleeved pullover.
Umpires must remove all association/league/professional patches, logos, etc. from uniforms. Conference USA does not wear numbers on uniforms; however, umpires are permitted to wear numbers on their shirts and/or pullovers. Likewise, American flags are permissible and should be worn on the back of shirts or pullovers just below the collar mid-way between the shoulders (behind the bottom of neck). It is permissible for umpires to use a hockey-style helmet on the plate instead of a C-USA hat and mask. Assignments. a. Contractual commitment. The assignment of an umpire to a series will be binding upon receipt of a signed contract by the Conference office. After an assignment has been completed, it shall not be canceled or altered in any way (other than to address schedule adjustments or emergencies) except by the Coordinator of Umpires. b. Crew size. Three-person crews shall be utilized for all games. c. Suspensions/Ejections. If a participant(s) is suspended, the crew chief is to call the Coordinator of Umpires after the game and report the suspension. If a participant(s) is ejected and/or suspended, umpires shall promptly file an electronic written report with the Coordinator of Umpires using the appropriate form on the NCAA Central Hub. d. Protocol for Review of Baseball Umpiring Special Circumstances. (1) Crew chiefs are required to alert the Coordinator of Baseball Umpires following the completion of any contest that involves special circumstances. The Coordinator will immediately notify Merton Hanks at the Conference office. (2) Situations involved in special circumstances will include, but not be limited to: Any ejection that carries a suspension Bean ball incidents Fights Major crowd control issues Sportsmanship (3) The Coordinator is required to submit to Merton Hanks all of the applicable NCAA playing rules that apply to the situation.
(4) Schools (coaches and/or administrators) are required to submit description of plays involving special circumstances in-writing via E-mail to the Conference office by 6 p.m. on the day following the game involving special circumstances. (5) Schools (coaches and/or administrators) are required to post applicable video of plays involving special circumstances, if available, on XOS ThunderCloud XChange by 6 p.m. on the day following the game. (6) Judy MacLeod, Merton Hanks and the Coordinator will review the description and video of the plays involving special circumstances and meet by teleconference by close of business 48 hours following a game. (7) MacLeod, Hanks and the Coordinator will make a recommendation of further action, if any, to the Commissioner by Noon the day following the teleconference referenced in item No. 6. e. General. The Coordinator of Umpires shall make the assignments for all Conference games involving Conference member institutions. Every effort will be made to work in conjunction with other conference supervisors to utilize all members of the staff to the betterment of the Conference. It is the policy of the Conference to assign the best possible umpires available to each game. f. Institutional schedules. The Commissioner, or his designee, and Coordinator of Umpires shall be furnished with institutional baseball schedules at the earliest possible date, generally no later than December 1. Information regarding games scheduled or adjusted after the initial release shall be furnished as soon as possible. g. Notification of assignments. The Coordinator of Umpires will notify umpires in a timely manner of game assignments. Conference institutions will be informed of umpires assignments in a timely manner. h. Pre-game umpires' meeting. The crew chief should assemble the umpires before the first game of the series for a pre-series meeting. i. Reporting to game site. Umpires are to be at the stadium 90 minutes before game time for game one of a series and 60 minutes before game time for games two and three of a series. j. Umpires' dressing rooms. Umpires' dressing rooms are off-limits to anyone except Conference personnel or as otherwise stated in Conference rules. Friends of umpires, family members, etc., are not permitted to enter the umpires dressing rooms.
Statements to the Media. In situations where a statement is warranted to explain an umpires' ruling in a game, statements to the news media may only be issued by the sports information director of the home team, who shall serve as the pool reporter and relay the statement, in written form, to the media. Requests will only be honored for situations involving rules interpretations and explanations, not situations involving judgment calls. Assignment Changes/Cancellations. a. Emergency situation/travel no-shows. If the crew chief is unable to contact the Coordinator of Umpires he is to call the Conference office and inform the Senior Associate Commissioner (Merton Hanks) of the problem. Umpires are to give the Conference office as much advance notice as possible so there will be time to find a replacement. Conference USA Office 214-774-1300 Richard Fetchiet Office 734-647-4016 (Coordinator of Umpires) Cell 734-637-2861 Fax E-mail plateman@umich.edu Merton Hanks Office 214-774-1350 (Senior Associate Commissioner) Cell 917-653-2421 Home 973-415-7002 E-Mail mhanks@c-usa.org Russ Anderson Office 214-774-1351 (Assistant Commissioner) Cell 214-773-1737 E-Mail: rdanderson@c-usa.org b. Institutional responsibility. In the event that a game is canceled or postponed because of weather or other reasons, and one or more of the umpires have not been notified and are on site and ready to work, the host institution shall pay the fee or fees. c. Notification. The host institution shall be responsible for notifying the Conference office immediately of any changes in games (e.g., times, facilities, dates). The Coordinator of Umpires shall be responsible for notifying the host institution immediately of any changes in umpires assigned to games. d. Reduced crew. If, for any reason, an umpire is prevented from appearing at an assigned game, the Coordinator of Umpires shall be notified and an attempt will be made to locate an umpire on the staff within the immediate vicinity of the host institution. If a substitute cannot be located, the game may be played with fewer umpires. e. Substantiation. If an umpire is unable to be present at a game assigned to him because of weather conditions, the umpire must be able to substantiate to the Coordinator of Umpires
that his preparation and schedules were sufficient and timely for appearances at the game assigned. f. Umpires responsibility. If, for just cause, the umpire finds it necessary to request cancellation of an assignment, such request must be made directly to the Coordinator of Umpires, who will notify the other umpires and the institutions involved. Public Criticism of Umpires. Coaches, student-athletes or athletics administrators who publicly criticize game umpires may be reprimanded and/or suspended by the Commissioner. Public criticism includes negative comments made about umpires by coaches or administrators in a public forum or meeting and/or to members of the media. The appropriate public response by coaches, student-athletes or athletics administrators to media questions regarding umpiring is: per Conference policy, I am unable to comment. Any other response is a violation of the sportsmanship policy. Disciplinary Procedure. The Commissioner, after consultation with the Coordinator of Umpires, may reprimand or relieve an umpire of future assignments for conduct unbecoming an official, failure to cooperate with the Coordinator of Umpires, or for any action detrimental to the Conference. Umpires will not receive compensation for revoked assignments. Evaluation. Umpires will be evaluated after each conference series. Three evaluations will be submitted using the Arbiter website on each umpire after each series one from each coaching staff and one from the crew chief. Evaluation instructions and evaluation forms are provided on the Arbiter web site. Education. a. Annual meeting. Umpires are expected to attend an annual NCAA Clinic/Rules Meeting. b. Umpires. Umpires are encouraged to participate and maintain active membership in geographically appropriate collegiate umpiring associations and participate in study sessions. They should work pre-season scrimmages and/or nonconference games. c. Rules Test. Umpires shall take the NCAA online rules test. d. Coordinator communication. The Coordinator of Umpires shall communicate directly (in writing and by telephone) as needed with umpires, Athletics Directors and coaches to review areas of concern.
Financial Procedures. a. Budget process. In order to facilitate financial planning by member institutions, the Coordinator of Umpires shall submit to the Commissioner recommendations regarding umpires fees, expenses and travel policy no later than March 1. b. General. The fee and expense structure for baseball umpires shall be established by the Conference USA Officiating Committee and Athletics Directors; and approved by the Conference Board of Directors. c. Payment. Umpires payments for game fees, per diem and travel will be processed by the Conference office through RefPay at-least twice monthly. It is the responsibility of each umpire to notify the Conference Office of a change in mailing address and to update their Arbiter account. It is the responsibility of the umpire to submit receipts to the conference office (Shonna Brown, Conference USA, 5201 N. O Connor Blvd., Suite 300, Irving, TX 75039; 214-774-1380-fax; sbrown@c-usa.org E-mail) within 14 days of the event for travel reimbursement. d. 201 game fees and travel expenses. Game Fees for Three-Game Series - $900 Per Diem - $90 per series ($30 per day for three days). Per Diem includes airport parking and incidental expenses. Travel 1.12 mileage reimbursement for travel over 30 miles one way (includes tolls) not to exceed lowest airfare available (through Conference travel service) or 300 miles, whichever is less. Airfare Travel arrangements must be made through Conference travel services a minimum of 21 days in advance. Conference travel service information is attached. *Umpires will automatically be reimbursed for one (1) checked bag for those who fly based on each airline s posted fees (no receipt required). Lodging Three (3) rooms will be reserved for each Conference series. Umpires (or the crew chief on behalf of the crew) are responsible for contacting host institution 14 days in advance if a hotel is not needed. Hotel Contacts are attached. If the Umpire cannot reach that person they must contact the Conference Office. DO NOT make your own reservations, as it will not be reimbursed. A maximum of three hotel rooms (single occupancy) may be reserved by the host institution. Room, hotel parking and tax billed directly to the host institution. All incidental expenses are the responsibility of the umpire. Rental Cars Rental cars will be provided as needed with the approval of the Conference office (limit one vehicle per crew per series) and booked through the Conference travel service. Conference travel service information is attached. Rental options (prepaid gas, insurance, never lost, etc) will not be reimbursed. Umpires must submit receipts to the
conference office (Shonna Brown, Conference USA, 5201 N. O Connor Blvd., Suite 300, Irving, TX 75039; 214-774-1380-fax; sbrown@c-usa.org E-mail) for reimbursement within 14 days of event along with gas receipts. Receipts submitted for reimbursement must be received within 14 days of the expense. Procedures For Boycotted Games. Conference USA has developed procedures for its member institutions to follow in any instance where a boycott of baseball competition may occur. Please see the Conference USA Baseball Regulations.