The Decline of Umpiring

[sluggers]

This article contains the results of the largest survey of refs and umps ever: https://www.referee.com/17487-officials-something-say/

Some takeaways:

1. Half of all softball umpires are over the age of 58.
2. Women make up less than 10% of refs & umps.
3. Officials say that parents cause most of the problems (no surprise).
4. Monetary compensation is not one of the top 10 reasons people officiate.

 

[Greatdaytobeawildcat]

I had 2 games today. First was a 12u USA tournament. 9am game, got to the complex at 8, walked around, got a coffee, bs’d in the parking lot with the other umps as we got dressed (43 degrees, getting dressed outside by the trunk of your car - awesome). Did my game, no new after 1:30…took about 1:35). No issues, kind of a boring game.
Debriefed back in parking lot. Talked about plays that came up, etc.
My next game wasn’t until 1, so I hung around the tournament, watched a few innings at multiple fields for the 11am games, gave guys feedback in between innings (they asked for it, and appreciated it).
Drove two towns over for my next assignment, a 10u rec game. Like, super crazy beginning rec. coach relief pitching type rec. it was a hot mess, and great at the same time - they have to start somewhere. Gave them 1:45 minutes of my full energy.
Drove home with GameChanger on my DD’s game (they got waxed in pool play today). Got home around 3:30 (stopped at the package store on the way home - earned my beer with game 2). Wrote an email to our board prez with some ideas for the spring clinic. Sent a video from close call sports on a call that came up today to a fellow ump. Took a nap.
So, a pretty glamorous lifestyle for the $120 I grossed today. Bonus, no one abused me (and I had fun).
Can’t wait to do it again tomorrow…

 

[flash277]

I had 2 games today. First was a 12u USA tournament. 9am game, got to the complex at 8, walked around, got a coffee, bs’d in the parking lot with the other umps as we got dressed (43 degrees, getting dressed outside by the trunk of your car - awesome). Did my game, no new after 1:30…took about 1:35). No issues, kind of a boring game.
Debriefed back in parking lot. Talked about plays that came up, etc.
My next game wasn’t until 1, so I hung around the tournament, watched a few innings at multiple fields for the 11am games, gave guys feedback in between innings (they asked for it, and appreciated it).
Drove two towns over for my next assignment, a 10u rec game. Like, super crazy beginning rec. coach relief pitching type rec. it was a hot mess, and great at the same time - they have to start somewhere. Gave them 1:45 minutes of my full energy.
Drove home with GameChanger on my DD’s game (they got waxed in pool play today). Got home around 3:30 (stopped at the package store on the way home - earned my beer with game 2). Wrote an email to our board prez with some ideas for the spring clinic. Sent a video from close call sports on a call that came up today to a fellow ump. Took a nap.
So, a pretty glamorous lifestyle for the $120 I grossed today. Bonus, no one abused me (and I had fun).
Can’t wait to do it again tomorrow…

You had a game at 9am, then had to drive somewhere else for a 1pm game?....I'd be kind of annoyed at my assignor for that. I usually do 3-4 games straight at same complex.

 

[Greatdaytobeawildcat]

You had a game at 9am, then had to drive somewhere else for a 1pm game?....I'd be kind of annoyed at my assignor for that. I usually do 3-4 games straight at same complex.

We’re so short staffed, our assignor basically scrambles like crazy every week trying to get stuff covered. So the 1pm was a late add. I was going to go see my Dd, but took the game as a favor.

 

[radness]

This article contains the results of the largest survey of refs and umps ever: https://www.referee.com/17487-officials-something-say/

Some takeaways:

1. Half of all softball umpires are over the age of 58.
2. Women make up less than 10% of refs & umps.
3. Officials say that parents cause most of the problems (no surprise).
4. Monetary compensation is not one of the top 10 reasons people officiate.

Good article
~ clearly we can see from the graph of how many umpires there were next to the year 2000,2005, 2010, 2015 stayed steady.
looking back then til now there has not been notable increase of umpires...
HOWEVER we know there HAS BEEN a substantially GIANT increase of games AND teams in the past 5, 10, 15 , 20 years.

Those can keep calling it a decline...if thats the word you think describes this issue.
imo
Seems more like growth in softball created more demand.
just perspective.
Simply that I see a heck of a lot more softball now than years previous.
Theres more fields and complexes, and there's umpires at every game.
In fact even with the many fields they are full creating a need for more fields.

 

[gdc03120]

It's definitely a challenge. I started out at 16 doing local little league baseball/softball and worked my way up in time to be the head umpire for our town's program. Everyone wanted me on their games because I was the only one that took everything seriously. We basically had 2 reliable umpires and 1 who came in/out depending on our need. I did that for 12 years - $25/game for 4 games a week for around 10 weeks - doesn't buy a lot of personal glory on Amazon. BUT no matter the teams (the talent, the record, the community, etc) - I showed up professionally attired (not certified yet), umpired the game accordingly, then left. Only tossed 3 parents the entire time - hard to do when it's local and everyone knows everyone, but an a**hole is an a**hole no matter the neighborhood.

Once I got my HS certification, then I found out what umpiring is REALLY all about. I had to reign in my trigger finger and make sure I knew the rules for any situation, just in case a coach wanted to chirp about a call and try to corner me into reversing a decision. Have I kicked calls before? Certainly? FUBARd the rules in an explanation? Damn right. Do I love what I do when I do it? Absolutely. The more professionally I take my job, the more fun I have, and I believe the more fun it is for the kids vs. having an umpire that doesn't care at all. I have two 10U games tomorrow as just friendlies. Is 10U a challenge? Depends on the pitching/fielding. Can I still have fun while treating it seriously? Absolutely.

I haven't dealt with as much flack from parents as I have coaches over the years, specifically coaches NOT knowing the rules. I also coach 16U rec softball in the summer, and I tell my girls constantly, "Before I go out to talk to an umpire, I ask myself, 'Why would I make that call if I were in that spot?'" just so I don't go out yelling about something I should know already. It makes my life that much easier as a coach. Personally, I think as part of coaching, all coaches should be required to take the basics of an umpiring/refereeing course in their specific sport(s). To me, it seems senseless to know strategies and not the rules of the game. I think we'd see (slightly) less arguments/ejections and better communication among everyone involved.

(Additionally, I've umpired in some tournaments with a house rule that anyone ejected at any time for any reason - whether Friday/Saturday or Sunday - is banned from the tournament site for the rest of the duration of the tournament. I LOVE this rule because it gives the coaches incentive to tone it down or risk not completing the tournament period.)

 

[MNDad]

While it is true that high-dollar tournaments can afford the best umpires, I have all kinds of problems with the idea that "big org" summer games are the only ones that matter. I'm certain that the "Hitten Kittens" would also disagree. The condescension that some carry about "lower levels" never ceases to amaze. It even appears to extend to college ball where, if you're not P5, you're falling short. At the youth association level, it's exactly the reason that Rec exists as little more than a cash cow, if it exists at all.

If we're really talking about the "grand scheme", NONE of this matters much. Hopefully, it's fun and memorable, but it's ALL short-term "what we did in HS and college" stuff. Even most of those talented kids who play during the summer for the "big orgs" with the good umpires won't play through four years of college ball. Many of those who manage to do so emerge from school injured and under-equipped for the world that confronts them. My direct and first-hand observation.

I don’t know how others define hittin kittens, but I’ve always taken it to mean any team that plays someone they clearly overmatch and then brag about it. It’s more of a shot at the winning team for sandbagging.

FWIW P5 schools fall short too. Half of the PAC 12, Big 12, ACC and most of the B1G aren’t playing real softball. There’s also plenty that believe the only conference that matters is the SEC. It just means more after all.

 

[FP26]

Good article
~ clearly we can see from the graph of how many umpires there were next to the year 2000,2005, 2010, 2015 stayed steady.
looking back then til now there has not been notable increase of umpires...
HOWEVER we know there HAS BEEN a substantially GIANT increase of games AND teams in the past 5, 10, 15 , 20 years.

Those can keep calling it a decline...if thats the word you think describes this issue.
imo
Seems more like growth in softball created more demand.
just perspective.
Simply that I see a heck of a lot more softball now than years previous.
Theres more fields and complexes, and there's umpires at every game.
In fact even with the many fields they are full creating a need for more fields.

I guess it depends what type of decline we are talking about...

Are there fewer umpires today then there was 20 years ago? I'm unsure. Perhaps, but I don't have any statistics to support that.
Is the quality of umpiring going down? No, not in my opinion. Just like any other walk of life, there are people that are good at their job and people that are not. Without having any data to support it, my belief is that the % of good officials is as high or higher than it was 20 years ago. But, yes, there are still some 'less than good' officials.
Is the number of available umpires compared to the number needed declining? To me this isn't even debatable. Many of the points you have made yourself would support this. If the number of teams and the number of games has gone up, the number of officials needed would also need to go up. I don't think it has. Therefore it becomes more challenging to find officials for each game. Then, those officials that are not necessarily good at their job could potentially work more than they otherwise would because options are limited. From that standpoint, perhaps the qualify of officiating has gone down on average.

I believe you mentioned before that officiating groups don't seem to do much to recruit new members. That's probably a region by region thing, but like you, I really don't see any recruiting of officials in my area. The closest I have seen was a hand written note posted at a concession stand at a tournament stating that more officials were needed. I don't know what the answer is, but I think it is clear that more officials are needed.

 

[sluggers]

Good article
~ clearly we can see from the graph of how many umpires there were next to the year 2000,2005, 2010, 2015 stayed steady.
looking back then til now there has not been notable increase of umpires...
HOWEVER we know there HAS BEEN a substantially GIANT increase of games AND teams in the past 5, 10, 15 , 20 years.

Those can keep calling it a decline...if thats the word you think describes this issue.
imo
Seems more like growth in softball created more demand.
just perspective.
Simply that I see a heck of a lot more softball now than years previous.
Theres more fields and complexes, and there's umpires at every game.
In fact even with the many fields they are full creating a need for more fields.

Good article
~ clearly we can see from the graph of how many umpires there were next to the year 2000,2005, 2010, 2015 stayed steady.

Maybe I missed it, but I don't see that in any of the graphs. Which one are you talking about?

 

[radness]

Maybe I missed it, but I don't see that in any of the graphs. Which one are you talking about?

Thought read a graph that showed the concentration of umpires over the years broken down by age.
( could have viewed it wrong)


In any case I think to say that something is a decline compared to its reason for existing ie:softball
need to show the numbers of both the employment #'s
and the industry that is employing them.
ie:giant growth in softball!
Hope i wrote that clearly enough...
Two graphs next to eachother.

Also to compair this conundrum of need vs decline in a workplace
its a service industry job it should be compared and reflected against other service industry jobs.

just to simply call something a decline
I'm not on board with.
*Because I know how much softball has grown.
Without acknowledging that sb has grown ginormously, this discussion is only looking through one eye.
And is not a compairison of the situation those think is decline vs. NEED.

Btw while some people may think i'm be being critical to point a finger with an emojis... actually I am just using emojis to be fun. But perhaps that's just perspective