Maine District Three Little League Umpires: Umpire News

Wednesday, February 1
Concussion Information Provided for Little League Volunteers



concussion

Little League Baseball and Softball has always been at the forefront regarding the safety and well-being of children.

In an effort to provide all Little League personnel with the most current information on concussions, the youth baseball organization has created an informational page on its website that also includes links to training information and ways to recognize signs and symptoms of a concussion.

As the assessment and treatment of concussions and concussion-like symptoms has evolved, many states have enacted laws designed to educate people about concussions, and protect the health and safety of young athletes. 

Little League International has compiled a summary of all currently-existing and proposed state laws regarding concussions. The summary of concussion-related state laws can be found at: http://www.littleleague.org/learn/programs/childprotection/concussions.htm.

Some state laws are only applicable to school-sponsored athletics, or to activities taking place on school-owned property. Other laws are applicable to all youth sports organizations, whether, or not, they are affiliated with a school district.
 
It is strongly-recommended that local leagues consult with legal counsel in their jurisdiction to determine the applicability of state laws regarding concussions occurring while children are participating in the Little League program.

Not every state has adopted concussion laws and not every state's concussion law is applicable to a local Little League program. Nevertheless, in keeping with its focus on protecting the health, safety and welfare of children, Little League Baseball and Softball strongly encourages all leagues and teams to not only comply with any applicable state laws, but also to review the information and training materials on concussions which is available (free of charge) on the Centers For Disease Control website. The latest concussion information from the Centers for Disease control can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/HeadsUp/online_training.html.

It is essential that each league review this material in order to understand its responsibilities regarding when and how to address concussions.



Sunday, March 4
District 3 post season assignments for 2012



Post season assignments as assigned by Little League

Chris Parker - 11-12 baseball - European Regional - July 21st-29th in Poland

Rob Curtis - 11-12 Baseball - East Region Tournament - August 3rd-12th in Bristol, CT

Troy Richardson -- Big League Baseball - East Region Tournament - July 15th -21st 

Dover, DE Troy's Blog



Friday, November 25
Maine D-3 Umpires help the cause
Dressed in Pink

In 2011 a few of the Maine D-3 Umpires wore pink during the district playoffs and even took them 'on the road' to Guam for a regional. We purchased and wore the shirts to help raise awareness about breast cancer and cancer in general.

Two shirts from D-3 were signed and left in Guam for the Regional staff as reminders of why were wore them. They were signed by the entire umpire staff of the tournment. There was also a pink shirt given to a young man, in Maine, who is a huge baseball fan and is unable to play because of his cancer. He is on the road to recovery. The shirt was signed by the entire 2011 SLWS umpire staff.

Look for these shirts on local fields in 2012!



Saturday, July 2
Local umpires draw assignment a world away
pink
By Ernie Clark, BDN Staff

BANGOR — The baseball world has come to Eastern Maine for the last nine years through the Senior League World Series held each August at Mansfield Stadium.

Now two veteran umpires from the area will get a chance to work in another part of the world — in part because of a relationship forged at the SLWS.

Chris Parker of Bangor and Troy Lare of Hermon will leave next Thursday for Guam where they will umpire in the Asia Pacific Little League championships, a regional event for players ages 11-12 that begins July 9 and runs for seven days with the winner advancing to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., Aug. 18-28.

“This is a great opportunity to work in an international tournament with 11 different countries involved,” said Lare, a volunteer Little League umpire for the last 30 years. “We’re going to have a really good time, but it’s about the kids. It’s not about us going there but we’re going to see some good baseball and have the best seat to watch some good games.”

Both Lare and Parker, a 32-year volunteer Little League umpire, have worked major events before.

Parker umpired in the 2009 Little League World Series, and also has worked at the Little League Softball World Series in 2001 as well as a Little League softball regional in 2000 and a Little League baseball regional in 2004.

“This is probably my last trip, my fond farewell,” he said. “I’ll keep umpiring, but this is probably my last big trip.”

Lare previously worked a Senior League baseball regional in 2006 and a Little League baseball regional in 2009.

Parker also has served as umpire-in-chief of the Senior League World Series while Lare has been an umpire crew chief for the series, and their friendship with Kevin Masnayon, an umpire from Guam who worked the 2005 SLWS in Bangor led to the opportunity for them to be assigned to this year’s Asia-Pacific championships.

“Originally I put in a request to do the Europe-Mideast-Africa tournament in Poland, and that looked promising for a long while but it fell through,” said Parker. “Then a couple weeks later in early May, an e-mail pops up from Kevin saying he could bring two umpires from the mainland to work the Asia-Pacific 11-and-12 regional, and he asked if we’d like to come over.

“He sent it to about 20 of us, but by the time that night was over and the clock struck midnight, Troy and I had already responded to him and said we’re in if he’d take us. Then before you know it there was a letter from Kevin’s district administrator saying, ‘Congratulations, you’re invited to the Asia Pacific regional in Guam.’

“Kevin had such a good time when he was here in Bangor, and he promised us if he ever had a chance to pay us back he would.”

Parker and Lare will pay their transportation costs, but the host committee will house Lare in a hotel while Parker will have more personal accommodations — his 25-year-old son Sean is stationed with the U.S. Navy in Guam.

“The bonus for me and my wife Lori, who’s going with me, is my son has been stationed in Guam with the Navy for the last three years so we’ll stay with him while we’re there,” said Parker. “This a big bonus for us.”

On the field, the biggest challenge facing Parker and Lare may involve communicating with some of the participants.

For while players and coaches from Guam, a U.S. territory, speak English, not all of the other teams in the field — which includes Australia, Chinese Taipei, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand — do so.

“I think baseball has a universal language,” said Lare. “If there are going to be some issues with rules, then we’ll need an interpreter to go through the coaches, but an out is an out and a strike is a strike. I think you just need to have patience. You have to be patient with the kids and you have to be patient with the coaches.”

Parker did admit that hand signals occasionally can mean different things to different national teams, but he added that Little League officials do a good job of teaching uniform signals to umpires from around the world.

“You find a way,” he said. “You find a medium to get the message through.”

And while the chance to communicate with baseball people in another part of the world will make this trip special for Parker and Lare, it’s the common bonds among Little Leaguers both near and far that ultimately has made umpiring an unpaid labor of love for them during the last three decades.

“It’s the kids that keep me in it,” said Lare. “I love being around the kids and watching them smile and be happy about playing the game. The younger kids are a lot more respectful to us as officials because they want to learn, and we can help them learn to love baseball.”



Monday, August 2
District 3 honors Past Umpire-In-Chief
ken parker

The 2011 Senior World Series honored our past Umpire-in-Chief, by having a special article in the tournament program.  Ken Parker passed away in September of 2010, after a long illness. Ken will be sadly missed. He was able to attend a couple of games at the 2010 World Series with the assistance of his family and a wheelchair.

HOLDEN - Kenneth R. "Bamps" Parker, 70, passed away Sept. 4, 2010, at a Bangor hospital. He was born Nov. 26, 1939, in Lincoln, the son of Wesley and Thelma (Stevens) Parker. He was a graduate of Mattanawcook Academy, Class of 1958, and the University of Maine, Class of 1962. Ken went to work in the engineering industry until the early 1980s when he became an educator. Ken volunteered 50 years to Little League baseball, doing everything from coaching to umpiring. He enjoyed the outdoors and many activities associated with it. Surviving are his partner of 30 years, Florence Libby of Holden; three sons, Chris and his wife, Lori, Mark and Aaron, all of Bangor; five grandchildren, Wesley, Sean, Kristin, Megan and Mackenzie; one great-granddaughter, Layla; a brother, Mike and his wife, Helen, of Windham; cousins, aunts and uncles. He was predeceased by a brother, Roger. Relatives and friends are invited to call 10 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Sept. 8, at Brookings-Smith, 133 Center St., Bangor. Graveside services will be held 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8, at Lincoln Cemetery with the Rev. Mark Rustin officiating. Gifts in his memory may be sent to Future Senior Little League World Series Programs, care of Robert Stevenson, 153 15th St., Bangor, ME 04401. Condolences to the family may be expressed at www.BrookingsSmith.com.

Ken was our long-standing Umpire in Chief in D-3. He had the honor of working the Little League Regional in Bristol, CT and the Senior Little league Regional in West Deptford NJ during his career as a Little league Umpire. Ken was buried with 'Little League Honors' in Lincoln, Maine - all 6 of his pall bearors were in their umpire uniforms.