Finally – a chance to get away from the Western Washington rains!
I packed the trailer and headed over the pass to lovely Okanogan County. Set up near the Canadian border in Central Washington, this area is known for wide open spaces, big trucks, and cowboys. One of the hallmarks of Okanogan County is the Omak Stampede, a rodeo event known for its famous (and controversial “Suicide Race”).
The Okanogan group consists of nine umpires. Dave Kirk, their leader, asked that I come over on Monday to lead three-man training with a Tuesday game. Teaching three man mechanics is one of my favorite things, so I jumped at the chance.
As it turns out the ball field is located on the same grounds as the Omak Stampede stadium – and the local RV park. How convenient! As I was setting up the trailer Dave strolled up and introduced himself. He told me about the group, and how they had little to no opportunity to work three umpire. Two of the umpires were schedule to work that afternoon so wouldn’t be there, but the rest committed to coming. The Omak high school team committed to staying late at their practice to setup situations, so we were going to play it by ear.
The training was impromptu, chaotic, and free form. The Omak team did their best to set up the situations, and I tried to run through as many rotations and situations as possible. In the midst of the mayhem every one of these men took to every situation with absolute fervor. They were so excited to be able to have actual training – asking questions, running situations, and rotating through the various positions. They were indeed like proverbial kinds in a candy store.
The training went a good hour and a half. At the end they were happy to have received some actual hands-on experience with three-person mechanics, but lamented that they would have very few real opportunities to utilize it in practice. They thanked me profusely.
I felt like I should have thanked them. I had such a great time working with these dedicated guys. They lit inside me a fire to spend more time in my retirement teaching and training umpires, especially in some of these more rural areas.
As the day faded I headed over to Okanogan, to make sure I knew where tomorrow’s game would be. I finally located the field behind the elementary school, laid out at the base of a sparse hill. At the final light of day I heard the rhythmic squeaking of a child on a swing. I stood still and soaked in this moment – a solitary slice of peaceful time. With a final glance back I hopped in my car and headed back to the RV park.
Tomorrow will be a full day.
