HISTORY
Please add a small The Eastern Collegiate Softball Umpires (ECSU) organization can trace its roots back over 30 years when it began as the New Jersey Board of Collegiate Softball Umpires (NJBCSU).
1979
New Jersey Board of College Softball Umpires evolved from an idea on a chalkboard into an association of umpires headed by its founder ISF certified umpire, Marie Koch and 4 other skilled umpires. The role of this initial set of leaders was to act in place of the group when needed and to train umpires in the rules and mechanics published the American Softball Association (ASA) since the NCAA did not have its own set of softball rules at that time.
1980's
As more colleges and universities fielded softball teams, the demand for services by our members grew.
1988
By 1988, there were 40 umpires that belonged to the NJBCSU. However, it continued to serve mainly New Jersey institutions.
2000
The beginning of the current century saw a continuation of the development begun earlier. In 2000, Mike Covello was selected as the chairperson of the NJBCSU.
1995
The group’s second major change occurred in 1995. Realizing that the role of the NJBCSU leadership was not to act in place of the membership as an executive body normally does, but rather to provide training opportunities and evaluation procedures for its members, NJBCSU decided to change the name of the Executive Board to the Training Board.
2004
2010
By 2010, the ability of the umpires who received the training provided by NJBCSU-LLC was becoming known in most of the eastern region of the country. First, the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) employed Mike Covello as its conference assigner and asked that NJBCSU-LLC trained umpires be assigned to their games. Then, as other conferences decided to employ regional assigners, the opportunity for additional assignments for NJBCSU-LLC members became possible. But, having New Jersey in our name gave the impression that we were restricted geographically. It was time for a third iteration to better fit the role of the umpire staff.
2015
For the 2015 season, New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), and the Central Atlantic Athletic Conference (CACC), the Eastern Collegiate Conference (ECC) and the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) New York University and Yeshiva University have agreed to use a central assigner and asked the ECSU staff form the pool umpires assigned to their games. This means that ECSU umpires will work games for about forty-four colleges and universities this season.
NJBCSU made a third major change as it acknowledged its primary role as a training and education organization. The group became incorporated with the goal of providing these two important services to its membership. It was then known as the NJBCSU-LLC. This change is important for two reasons: first it established the NJBCSU-LLC as solely a training and educational organization and not one which employs or assigns officials to work games and, second incorporation protects each umpire from the inappropriate actions of other officials.
2014
The group became known officially as the Eastern Collegiate Softball Umpires (ECSU) and many of its processes were streamlined and codified. Written procedures were developed. In addition to serving as assigner for a number of conferences, Mike Covello was named Umpire in Chief. Mike Schiro assumed the role of Lead Clinician and Rules Interpreter. Individuals were assigned responsibility for recruitment, training, and evaluation of umpires.