Bloomfield College hosts NCAA National Clinic for softball umpires
BLOOMFIELD, NJ – The NCAA piloted its new on-line college softball clinic at the annual meeting of The New Jersey Board of College Softball Umpires. The clinic, a function of the NCAA’s Softball Umpires Improvement Program (SUIP), formerly held through in person sessions, will be on-line in the future.
The pilot provides umpires with the opportunity to view the presentation as a group, gives the chance for discussion, and enables the NCAA to receive feedback on the presentation. A member of the SUIP, Mr. Ed Crane, attended the meeting and presented the clinic to the New Jersey umpires who were joined by other collegiate officiating groups whose members came from as far away as Connecticut and Maryland. The role of SUIP is to formalize training and standardize the way softball games are officiated.
Dr. Michael A. Schiro, an NCAA softball umpire and Chairman of the Mathematics department at Bloomfield, is a member of the Training Board of the New Jersey chapter, and was happy that his institution could once again hold such a positive event for the growth of the sport.
"Bloomfield College has been host for our meetings for a number of years now," he said. “Success is due to the cooperation of a great number of people. Our thanks go to VPAA Marion Terenzio for providing refreshments, to head softball coach Rocco Constantino and his team for helping with hospitality and meeting arrangements, and to our technical and custodial staff who make sure all is ready and available so that the meeting's goals can be met. Their efforts showed all in attendance that Bloomfield College is a first-class operation."
Held in Room 16 of the Science Building on Bloomfield's campus, the online clinic was watched by the entire group of umpires using the auditorium-style room's projection system. Part of Mr. Crane’s role on the SUIP is to make similar presentations to other umpire groups at several locations throughout the country. He commented that, “Science 16’s facilities are among the very best I have seen during these presentations. Bloomfield should be very proud of its ability to deliver material to its students in a state of the art way.”