Teamwork & Camaraderie

Teamwork and camaraderie are important parts of any officials job, in any league. The time we spend at camp, in the hotels and working games are how we build that camaraderie. We don't often have the opportunity to travel as a four man team. More times than not officials are coming from different locations, either from their home or from a game in a previous city. Last week was a refreshing change of pace for a few officials. Like a crew of Major League Baseball umpires, myself, Lonnie Cameron, Shane Heyer and Marc Joannette hit the road together. A trip through Alberta was a great bonding experience for us.

Marc and I started to trip together in Montreal, making our way west together. A long delayed flight led to a late arrival at the airport and a change in the rental vehicle. As you can see in the picture I think we got the last truck on the lot. We had a few laughs about our electric blue truck as we cruised into Edmonton. We met up with our partners for the next few days, Shane and Lonnie, in the gym in the morning. With officials having different sleeping patterns due to arrival times, breakfast is not always a team event. Lunch, on the other hand, is almost always a team activity. We get a chance to catch up the latest chatter from around the league, talk about the game awaiting us and kick around different situations that might come our way. Just about every game, we eat together as a team. Following lunch, is off on our separate ways from some quiet time in the afternoon.

The next morning it's off to the airport for the short flight down to Calgary. Some guys prefer to drive between the two cities while others like the quick flight. We defer to the senior man on the crew, Shane Heyer, so Air Canada it is. Some guys like to read, other like to watch movies, some fidget and look at their watch the whole time. Lonnie Cameron, as you can see, prefers to sleep.

A night off in Calgary gave us time to have a nice team dinner. After checking into the hotel and having a good workout we made plans at a local restaurant for dinner. A very relaxing dinner with a great group of guys is an excellent way to recharge the batteries for the second half of the season. Finishing up our trip the next day was more of the same. Breakfast on our own, followed by a vigorous workout, a team lunch followed by the all important pre-game nap. After the game that night the crew began to break up and we were off to travel to the next city.

Alone.