Pitchers becoming Umpires

So my 16 yo umpired her first 10U game this week. She was super nervous about how it would go and was telling me some of her concerns. At one point she messaged me and said "I'm so nervous I won't have a consistent strike zone" I assured her it would be challenging with small girls playing rec but she would do fine.

Then I get a follow up message about 10 minutes later and it says "well if my strike zone is inconsistent it's just getting them ready for real life!!! welcome to being a pitcher!!"

haha I honestly laughed out loud at my desk.

My 17yo is scheduled to umpire Little League games later this month and next month. It should be a great experience for her. I'll be there to watch.

Kudos to your girls for umpiring. We need more young umps and females in particular.

Ugh, I could never do it. It amazes me how much more knowledgable 1st and 2nd year parents of rec players are than me... LOL

It's way easier to call balls and strikes from behind the fence.........

In our rec league most all of our 8u and some 10u umpires are youth umpires, all females. Working with there practice and game schedules can be challenging sometimes, but they do a good job and earn some cash at the same time. Now some of our 8u and 10u coaches and parents dont care for the youth umpires...having over heard them say they want real umpires etc...but I try to keep a eye out for my youth umpires and encourage them on how to deal with the coaches and parents...

Bubrox said:

It's way easier to call balls and strikes from behind the fence.........

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An umpire once told me he wanted to call his last game from the stands, since obviously one can get a better view that way.

He said it had to be his last game, because nobody would hire him after that.

...............................

My 13 y/o DD is in her 2nd week of umpiring for the local LL. The first day I got out of the car......and she just didn't lol. I waited a few moments and then opened the door and asked if she was OK and she said she needed a minute. It all worked out fine of course. She did 3 games last week and 2 another this week. For her its all about the benjamins. She made $95 the first week for 3 games and she has it spent before the check even gets to her. She decided against LL this year because she missed half the games the year before due to travel ball, and I told her if she didn't find something else to do I would put her to work around the house. Not a lot of opportunities for a 13 year to work, and certainly not many that will work around her travel ball schedule, so it's been a great opportunity for her. Plus she is the only girl in the junior ump program, so she got first dibs on all softball games.

Classof2020 said:

So my 16 yo umpired her first 10U game this week. She was super nervous about how it would go and was telling me some of her concerns. At one point she messaged me and said "I'm so nervous I won't have a consistent strike zone" I assured her it would be challenging with small girls playing rec but she would do fine.

Then I get a follow up message about 10 minutes later and it says "well if my strike zone is inconsistent it's just getting them ready for real life!!! welcome to being a pitcher!!"

haha I honestly laughed out loud at my desk.

Click to expand...

My DD (catcher) has umpired for 6 years since she was 13. She is a certified USA Softball/ASA & USSSA umpire. She used to worry about strike zones and calls but she is an "old pro" now. Even had to throw two 10U coaches out of a game last summer after they received two warnings for arguing a call. She has been invited to umpire at the USA Softball/ASA state tournament this summer and will be umpiring HS games next season.

Tell your DD to stay tough and stick to her calls. And encourage her to keep umpiring - the sport is seriously lacking quality umpires. Umpiring is my DD's only summer job and she makes bank - $25-$35 per game and in tournaments games are 1:15 drop dead. Quite a bit better than minimum wage if you are tough enough!