Chris Ford, former Lake View High School stand out in baseball, and football just completed the regular 4-week course for the Fundamentals for Umpires held in Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida.

This group was in the classroom from 8 a.m. until noon and in the field from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. 6 days per week for 4 weeks beginning January 6 through February 3. In the classroom they covered OBR, the Official Baseball Rules, from page 1 through the end of the book. They also covered the Minor League Baseball Manual.
At the end of the 4 weeks, 25 guys were selected from this class to attend the Advance Course for a job at the professional level.
Also, 25 students from the Harry Wendelstedt School also competed that brought the total to 50 for only 21 openings.
Chris Ford is one of the fortunate ones and is now expecting a call to go to Extended Spring Training in April in Arizona or Florida.
Ford said he would like to thank Coach Johnny Dew, who got him on the path to umpiring and pushed him to pursue umpiring professionally. “I thank God for him daily, for our friendship, and for him being my mentor. He’s a great man of God and a great person,” Ford said.