Fellow Umpires,
As you know, the NBUA 2021 banquet and golf tournament was held Saturday, September 18th at Maplewood CC.
The evening was fun and yet a bit poignant since we were honoring Leslie Fitzpatrick, our NBUA assignor for 18 years, as she officially retires from NBUA.
Most of us have known no other assignor until Mark Clough transitioned into the role this year. While Mark has done a very fine job, especially considering the changes to school AD’s inputting games (a real furball) and the Arbiter pay system to monitor and verify (more fur), but there will never be another Leslie.
Joe Townsend was our keynote speaker and could not have been surpassed as one whose experience as a long-time coach and player, love of the game, passion for instilling respect and virtue in our young players and integrity qualified him for the role.
Thank you, Leslie and thank you, Joe.
Very important events of the evening were the announcement of promotions and the 2021 awards.
Promotions for this year are are listed in a previous post
It is important to note that most of the apprentices that were promoted to C-Tier this year started in 2020 and took that year’s training. With almost no games in 2020, they were moved to a special category of “Apprentice II” and had to wait another year — and another Apprentice/C training — to get on the field enough to move to a well-deserved C Tier. I personally, and all NBUA members, thank you for hanging in there.
Every year, NBUA honors our own for their outstanding service. Several awards are named after those who, over their years of tenure with NBUA, have inspired their fellow umpires and given their all to our association.
This year, one of our more important awards was honored by being named after one such person. The Rookie of the Year award was renamed the “Leslie Fitzpatrick Rookie of the Year Award” and shall be so in perpetuity. Leslie always looked after our new umpires as they are the future of our association. If a new umpire contacted her with an issue it was dealt with immediately. She was a unique example of strength and discipline tempered with empathy.
| Leslie Fitzpatrick Rookie of the Year | Chris Castro |
Every year, the assignor selects an umpire from each tier who have done many games and have also always been available to get to games “anywhere, anytime, any game”.
| Umpire of the Year | C Tier | Marc Kaye | ||
| Umpire of the Year | B Tier | Bill Guest | ||
| Umpire of the Year | A Tier | John Leeper | ||
The following award’s criteria were read at the banquet and honor exemplary service to us, the members of NBUA. Past recipients are listed on our website under “Members” and “Awards”.
George Eshelman Umpire of the Year Brian Tschumper
Brian Gooch Distinguished Service Bill Fitzgerald and Bill Lewis (Da Bills)
Unsung Hero Award Paul Kahle
Jack Miller Customer of the year Puget Sound Senior Baseball League
Tom Krause, President
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Golf Tournament Results:
Due to a variety of circumstances, including weather, we had a small turnout of only 5 foursomes.
Despite torrential rain at times, Jeff Jacobson’s team of his son, Aaron, Dale Dolejsi (coach at Kennedy Catholic and Coach of the Year awardee of 2019) and Adrian Bagley stuck it out and were the only finishers at 5 under par. The winning team of the 2021 NBUA Golf Tournament!
The Longest Drive was won by Kevin Spear, our umpire Mike Spear’s son. Way to go, Kevin!
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That’s all for now but if any NBUA news crops up, please call me and keep me informed. This is OUR association and it takes all of us to make it carry on and grow better.
Thank you to each of you, my Umpire Brethren!
For your NBUA Board of Directors,
Peyton Coffin
206 280 8633
Member Services and Communication