Starting Up the Blog Again

 Another year, another year of umpiring coming up. With that, I am glad to be able to get back out onto the field and call some games. It is an amazing stress relief as well as an opportunity to give back to my community. There are so many things I like about umpiring so starting back up is something I always look forward to.

If you have been around for a while, you know I don't do an umpire blog for each season, just special ones. Well, 2023 is a special year because I just received a letter from the West Region Little League Office inviting me to umpire the 2023 Senior League Softball Regional in Missoula, Montana in July. I've done quite a bit of softball in Southern California for Little League over the past few years so to be able to head up to Montana for the best of the Western Region is going to be really exciting!

I received the letter Monday, January 23rd. Of course, it wasn't as big of a surprise as it has been in past years because back in December I received an email saying I was nominated for a tournament so fill out this background check. There is something special about opening that letter, though. 

This will be my fourth regional tournament. My first was in 2013 with the inaugural Intermediate Division Region in Irvine, CA (it has since moved to Nogales, AZ. My heat-generating body really appreciates not having done it in Arizona.) The second one was in 2017 in San Bernardino for the Little League Major Softball Regional. The third was the never-expected repeat of the Major Softball Regional in 2021, where all the games were on ESPN and I had a great time of umpiring without the stress of first-time jitters in San Bernardino. It was all taking it in again as an opportunity that will never happen again and really shouldn't have happened that time.

So 10 years after my first I get to do my fourth. There may be some really cool things coming up on this one, some people I get to work with again, get to work with for the first time, and get to possibly work with extensively as we prepare. I'm still waiting to hear about the third one to confirm it but I really hope that comes through because I couldn't think of another umpire I'd rather go through this with than him. 

As before, this blog will be a little slow in the beginning as I gear up towards All-Stars, pick up some, and then go full throttle during the tournament where I will give game recaps, tell you what I was thinking at certain points in case you were wondering as you were watching on ESPN+, and make notes for myself on where I can improve. I am very frank in my assessments of myself. Don't look for gossip or degradation of my fellow umpires, though, as I will always have nothing but encouraging words for them.

So welcome to another journey to a Regional tournament, this time to Montana. I'm glad you're joining me on this adventure.