GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Bruce Doane Sr. had a vision to create a first class training camp for amateur umpires and now his son is continuing to do just that.
"I was kind of pressured by mother and my relatives to continue that legacy for him," Bruce Doane Jr. smiled. "So he`s smiling right now."
The camp turns out over 100 umpires annually with the goal of not only improving umpires in amateur baseball, but helping them move up through the ranks.
"In today`s world of umpire you have to go to these camps in order to keep pace," Bruce added. "If you want to move up the ladder, you have to go to things like this."
Umpire camp participant, Cory Ray, said it's been the best path for him. "There`s a couple of ways you can go when you get into umpiring. You can go to pro school or you can do what I call Bruce Doane school. I`ve been to probably close to ten camps of his and the way, the benefits from his camps - I`ve made memories I will never forget."
The camps bring in instructors from all over and incorporate live game action as well, creating a name for themselves in the community.
"Bruce really has taken the lead in this area. Not only in West Michigan but across the state and across this Midwest region," instructor Brent Rice said on the camps success. "There are camps all over the country, clinics like this. But there are a lot of those clinics that are purely about examination. He`s really about teaching officials and teaching them the skill sets that are gonna make them advance through the system."
