WHAT IS OUTS? 

O.U.T.S. began in 2009 as a simple concept.   How can an umpire who can't afford from a time or cost perspective the ability to attend one of the five-week professional umpire schools learn how to umpire better?  Could there be an alternative to a three day clinic put on by most associations around the US?  What about working actual games while being instructed?  Could this concept be put together?

The answer, according to former AAA umpire Bob Bainter was, "Yes," and in 2009 he found the Oceanside Umpire Training Seminar in Cocoa, Florida.  With the assistance of friends and colleagues Jeff Biddle and Matt Yurish, Bob was able to begin a unique umpire training program, geared to umpires of all levels, where a combination of classroom instruction along with real in-game and post-game evaluation brought out the best of each of the attendees.  O.U.T.S. also combined forces with the Northwoods League, the premier wooden-bat collegiate summer league in the United States, allowing attendees of O.U.T.S. an opportunity to work as league umpires during each of the 2009, 2010, and 2011 seasons, and many of our attendees took their experience in the NWL into careers in professional and collegiate baseball following soon afterwards.  In 2012, O.U.T.S. and the Professional Umpire Camp in Shreveport, LA, decided to merge their programs to provide the number one program in the US for placing umpires in independent professional and collegiate baseball!!!

In 2012, Bob Bainter was named by the Northwoods League as their supervisor of umpires for the upcoming season. 

Our program has hosted many umpires who have attended one of the professional umpire schools, who were looking for additional instruction and supervision to find their strengths, along with correcting their weaknesses, to fit the professional game.  We've also hosted umpires who simply wanted to improve their game, whether it be in Little League, NAIA, NCAA, etc...our staff has worked them all, from MLB Spring Training games to Little League, themselves, and have a vast experience at every level.

What makes us different from the rest is we look to each individual to break down these strengths and weaknesses, based on our instructors combined experience of nearly 7,000 professional and collegiate games, and we do this based on evaluations while umpires are actually working games in sunny Florida!  There is no better experience than actually working a live game between some of the top college and high school teams from around the country who travel to Florida for their "spring training," and we also combine these evaluations with on-field drills and group discussions based on each day's work.

Check out our FAQ page at the for all the answers you need to make a great decision in attending our program in 2012!