Faith Maduro -Powell successfully became a member of the American Softball Association Umpires Panel at a recently concluded National Level camp in Florida.

Maduro-Powell now intends to aim at International Softball Federation Certification

Over 80 Umpires attended the course led by ASA Hall of Famer Julie Johnson.

The Camp led by ASA Hall of Fame Umpire Julie Johnson, Region 7 Umpire In Chief Walt Sparks, Southern Region UIC Max Wilkes and Florida UIC Matt Dunbar focused on training on the latest techniques and positioning at National level.

Florida ASA Commissioner Johnson commented, "This was one of the best Umpire Schools ever", giving credit to the top level instruction and the ASA Umpires that were working hard to improve their vocation.

Faith Maduro-Powell, BVISA Umpire, attended and completed the training and is now an official member of the Florida ASA Umpire Programme.

However, Ms. Maduro-Powell’s goal is to become ISF (International Softball Federation) certified. “To achieve this honor, I will have to umpire in three national championships - two of which must be in the major division of the category I’m applying for.”

“I would have to go away for a few games, which I am hoping to do later this year, and then maybe sometime next year I will try and attend the 5 day training at the ISF Headquarters in Plant City, Florida, to try for ISF certification,” she explained.

The Florida ASA distributes schedules of games to be played and in what cities. It is up to the ASA umpire themselves to state their availability to the relevant Umpires in Chief of the different areas.

In fast pitch, this includes the Men's and/or Women's Major and "A" divisions, the Men's 40-Over or the Girls 18-UGold. Once this has been accomplished, the umpire can apply through the ISF headquarters to attend a five day "Certification" Seminar, which includes evaluations in live competition, evaluations on plate mechanics calling balls and strikes, evaluations on responding to mechanic and case plays, and being taught the difference in ASA and ISF Rules and passing a written exam on the rules.

The ASA umpire programme is among the nation's largest officiating organizations with over 35,000 officials actively involved each year. ASA officials are nationally recognized as the best trained and proficient in the sport and are involved in competition starting with league play, city, state and national championships. Ultimately, ASA umpires could officiate in events such as world championship, Pan American and Olympic competitions.