The Diamond Umpire Association was established in 1988. We got started in the Riverside Catholic Pony League. This league consisted of 6 Pony teams, 8 Broncos teams, 12 Mustangs teams, and 16 Pintos teams. The original 3 charter umpires were Bill McDonald, Shawn Buchanan, and Sam McDonald.
The association grew in 1992 when the board accepted the Canyon Springs League and March Mountain Little Leagues (now Moreno Valley LL). It is during this period of expansion that Diamond Ump acquired the experience and talent of our current President Bob Morrison as well as our current "Training and Safety" Director, Jack Phillips.
By 1997 the organization was umpiring over eight leagues in the Moreno Valley and Riverside area. During this period, Diamond Umpire added Little League Umpiring duties for leagues in the La Sierra, Reid Park, Arlington, Pachappa, and Woodcrest areas. It was during this period that Diamond Umpire was fortunate to recruit the talented abilities of Gary Hunter, Mike Gonzales and Bob Townsend. These men are great assets to the team. Diamond umpire had swelled its organizational ranks to more than 40 qualified umpires.
The year 2000 was a banner year for Diamond Umpire. We picked up two new Pony leagues, and one girls softball league in Perris and Nuevo. This additional expansion, and the need for additional umpires, made it necessary for Diamond to implement a yearly training Clinic. Diamond Umpire, being dedicated to providing quality officiating, began a program to maintain the highest possible level of training. Our clinics stress an in-depth understanding of the rules as well as the importance of professional mechanics.
In the past four years over 75% of Diamond Umpires have become District 24 Little League umpires. Our Umpires have been volunteering to officiate post season All Stars games for our youth at all levels. We umpire in Little League District TOC's, Sectionals, and Divisionals. In 2002, Diamond Umpire had three umpires at the Regional Level. Both Bob Morrison (current President) and Ed Prior (our 2002 "Umpire of the Year") went to Warsaw Poland for the Europe Regional, while Shawn Buchanan went to Palmdale, California to do "Big League" at Western Regional.
Ed Prior, our 2002 "Umpire of the Year", passed way this winter. We all miss him dearly. He was a real workhorse, and was greatly respected by all.
We currently have two Umpires on the District 24 staff, Sam McDonald and Shawn Buchanan. We also have several "Blues" umpiring travel ball tournaments in the off season. This is in the spirit of our motto"Were always looking for a game"! One of our umpires, that started in the original Catholic Pony League, Dave Bernard, is currently umpiring in Minor-A ball in the Texas League.
Our association also believes in developing a youth program. Last year we had over 15 umpires under 18 years old. In the past two years we have sent at least one youth umpire to "Youth Umpire School" at Western Regional. These young people possess both great character, and considerable personal strength. Additionally, these young umpires are both mentored by, and respected by, their older associates.
Every year we have an annual awards Picnic. We develop a fun agenda of events that includes activities for the umpire's families so everyone has a great time. In 2001 we had over 100 people attend for prizes, fun, games, drinks, food, and the yearly awards program.
And finally, we came out of the dark with a web site. Thanks to our newest Director, Brent Wahl, we have developed our own website. This site will really help us obtain higher visibility, better internal communications, and an expanded league outreach. The 2003 "DIAMOND UMPIRE" board of directors is reviewing methods to best utilize this site to benefit both leagues and umpires.
We're excited with the opportunity of utilizing this vehicle to facilitate updated training in the areas of mechanics and rules for our umpires, as well as better communications between leagues, directors, and umpires. All through the simple vehicle of this web site.
In closing, our mission statement can be summed up in the fact that this association is here to support our community youth programs though quality officiating.
The Diamond Umpire Association is predicated on the foundation that our youth is our future and our legacy.
Sam McDonald, Chairman
