Meetings with the captains and coaches, a pre-game requirement in contests governed by the National Federation of State High School Associations rules, should take less than 90 seconds and the umpiring team, even when there is a third umpire as a reserve, should stand shoulder-to-shoulder.
The following videos demonstrate good practices among various teams of umpires (though all umpires at the meeting should be in matching game attire).
The following photograph is of an umpire team that decided to stand apart from each other during their meeting with the team captains and coaches.
This type of separated positioning undermines the partnership that umpires otherwise work hard to project, can suggest an hierarchy that doesn't exist, and forces the players and coaches to divide their attention between the umpires.
The following photograph is of an umpire team meeting with the captains representing the national teams from Japan and Ireland. Because a meeting with the captains isn't really part of the formal presentation at international matches, one doesn't often see photos of how they're conducted.
This "partnership positioning" serves a subtle (and important to deliver) reminder to the players that the umpires are a team before, during, and after the match.
