I quit umpiring youth baseball over safety

When my daughter was in high school she thought a fun summer job would be to umpire 9/10 softball. She quit after umpiring four games. She got tired of coaches not knowing the rules, then getting in her face to intimidate her into reversing calls. Then there were the catcalls from parents. I attended the last game she umpired. I didn't interfere. I just watched. I backed her decision based on what I saw. It was a very abusive situation with no support from the league.

I had several of my kids at 13u umpiring for a local rec league at 7/8u. I was also doing the photography for the league and it was all I could do not to open my mouth. The kids had a far better grasp of the rules than the coaches and it was disgraceful how quick 40-something year old men could get in the face of a 13yo umpire. Certainly wasn't worth the $20/game they got. 

Uh-oh, my 20 year old college pitcher son is looking into umpiring this summer at a local rec league. Hope it's not a big mistake.

In 9/10 rec ball the 14yo HPU did a horrible job with balls and strikes. He cost us the game with a horrible call in the field which eliminated us from the playoffs. I had to wrestle my assistant to the ground to keep him off the umpire. Then I had to explain everything to 9/10s and their parents in a post game talk.

 

The assistant coach's wife is a professor of child development at a prestigious university. At the car, out of earshot of all the kids she called her husband a bleepn idiot.

My son after his college freshman season thought it was a good idea a coupleyears ago to umpire 8/9 year olds.  Needless to say he is very happy working this summer as he did last summer in his chemical engineering internship and leaving that behind him.

ILVBB- I hear you.  Rec ball is going the way of the dinosaur !  Bad part of it is, that the decent, but not projectable, or showcase talent, is being sold a bill of goods by travel / summer teams that their little "Johnny" is MLB draft material.  There are plenty of good players that belong in rec ball playing travel, and showcase ball.  Some of these summer programs are pathetic, and if the parents can write the check, they find a team for you. 

 

It used to be the travel teams would field a #1 team, and if enough strong players showed up to tryouts, they'd field #2 team.  Now many programs convince enough parents to write checks and field 4-5 teams deep per grade level. And there are way too many travel teams than a geographic area can truly support with legitimate talent.  Sad!  This has depleted the kids with decent baseball skill suitable for rec ball, and flooded travel teams with prospects with very little potential of playing beyond HS.

My son is the starting SS on our varsity team.  He's a junior, but everyone in our area (very small population) knows him...and knows he's been playing serious travel ball since he was 8.  He umpires 5th thru 8th grade games....and has had absolutely no problem with players, coaches or parents.....so far....lol.

 

It's good money....$35 cash for a game that may last 2 hours.  Heck, he would have to work 7 hours at minimum wage to net that much.  Not a bad gig for a HS kid...

^^^ My starting senior SS also umpires LL and youth travel games and has since he was 13.  It was the best money he could make during the weekends and summer while also playing travel ball.  He also has a minimum wage job, but takes the umpiring jobs when he can get it!  He is looking forward to returning to Cooperstown this summer....this time as an umpire with a nice stipend!

For anyone whose kid is thinking about being an ump here are some things to consider.

1. The league.  Some leagues just want cheap labor and don't support or train the jr umps. 

2. The age.  Jr umps should work their way up.  Start at 8/9 and work up to 12 yo.

3. The coaches.  If the coaches are "over the top" rec and are screaming and yelling at the kids and umps - stay away.  If the league lets that happen - stay away.

4. The parents.  Same as coaches.

5. The assignor - is he/she fair and supportive.

 

Both my boys played baseball since they were 5, they are both umpires for rec baseball.  Before they could do games there are some criteria they must meet.

1. Be a good student.  If your grades are suffering spend the 3 hrs studying.

2. 12 YO.

3. Complete 9 hours of training - Rules - positions - how to deal with coaches / parents.

4. Be on time and dressed appropriately.  They get a blue polo a hat and clicker.  They are required to supply their own grey pants (baseball pants are good) and wear black cleats or sneakers.  The league has the shins, mask and chest.

 

before each season, the head of officials meets with all coaches and league officials.  It is made 100% clear that there is a no contact policy with the Jr umps.  No arguing calls, no comments from the dugout, no tollerance.  If you don't like it don't coach. Dicipline will be suspension from the league and if the league doesn't crack down hard on the offenders, then there will be no umpires assigned.

 

1st and 2nd year JR umps do the bases only at 8/9/10 years old.

3rd year and up do plate at 8/9 years old.  base at 10/11/12 years old.

10/11/12 years old always has a federated ump behind the plate.

 

The federated ump is there to deal with the coaches and parents if needed.

 

There is a field supervisor on duty at all times - just in case.

 

The head of officials is always available.

 

The first year these guidelines were implemented, there were quite a few diciplinary actions. But it became quickly known that there were to be no exceptions.  Now there are hardly any issues.   We have 30 JR umpires in the program.

This thread is really 2 threads,…one for umpiring youth ball and one from the OP re: leaving youth ball due to safety…..

 

Youth Ball Umpiring- much of what has been said is sadly quite true, I have been walking in complexes to my games when I have been stopped by parents or coaches and asked “why don’t we get qualified umpires like you guys to do our games?”….all the while all heck is breaking loose in the stands with parents yelling at each other and  8 adult men coaches swarm around 2 teenage kids who are just trying to make a few paltry dollars. "no thank you coach", is my usual reply......

 

The local league is getting what they paid for…umpiring for the lowest cost.  And by doing so, admitting they are willing to endorse games filled with umpiring errors, out of control parents and coaches, and harassment of youth umpires.   

 

As to the OP, getting hit is part of the game as an umpire.  I will agree that in youth ball the quality of the play can affect that dramatically.  There are ways to reduce those chances, by using better gear and a better stance that lets your protective gear do the most good.  But we all know that ball can find the one place you aren’t protected.

 

I left youth ball many years ago, for some of the same reasons stated by those in the thread.  The low level of play, the quality of coaching and the hassle of parents is something I haven’t missed.  Higher ball might bring a lesser chance of getting hit with better play, but when you do the hits are significantly harder.    

  

I wear only pro-level gear, and do the best to maintain my pro-clinic taught stance and hope it works…if not there is ice and ibuprofen at home....

pia_ump - thanks for your post; I have been an active umpire for 10-years. I have gone to the best schools for my training and take pride in my work. I own the best equipment that money can buy and maintain it as we were taught.

 

I primarily do HS and JC ball in California. In the summer; most of the work is either doing tournaments which now requires you to do 3-5 games a day or do "rec ball." Frankly; I am too old to do more than a double header so I choose not to do "tournament ball."

 

After last weekend; my right arm is bruised from below the elbow to my wrist; I have a pair of bruises on my stomach and if I wasn't wearing a cup; I would be a soprano.

 

I notified my assignor that I won't do "rec ball games" where the minimum level of play is NOT equivalent to HS ball. What this means is that I will do 40 less games, I will be replaced with umpires with far less experience and the problem will be perpetuated.

My oldest son umpires.  Makes pretty good money doing it as well.  Last year he covered his college living expenses (I pay for his dorm room and dining plan so Im guessing most his money goes for the beer) .  He used to ump for multiple leagues but has pared it down to one. The league he umps for supports the umps. They have a zero tolerance policy for any stuff that targets the umpire.  It doesn't stop the normal groaning based on judgement calls but he's learned to tune that out.  He occasionally gets notifications from the umpire coordinators with a list of parents and teams that have been acting up.  He is instructed to stop the game immediately if he hears anything from these teams, inform the coach the game won't proceed until the parents are removed.  If the coach does not control his parents the instructions are to EJ the coach.   This puts a lot on the coach, which I am not in favor of,  but everyone is warned about the policy up front (including the parents).

 

All that said he is at a point that he refuses to do the "little kids games".  He's umpiring in a LL sponsored league and will only do Major's and 50-70 games.  He is not a fan of the pressure the parents put on the younger kids.  As he says, "Dad their all idiots everyone of them think their kid is the next Jeter".  He says they are a lot better at the major level though he is seeing some issues with the new LL 50-70 division as many parents are seeing it as the premier level and that their kids are better then the ones playing the old "major 60-40" level.  

I had a 10U rec game once and about the 4th pitch of the game the catcher ducked under the ball and it hit me square in the belly button and caught the protector.  It was about 45MPH but in had a little sting in it.  The catcher was dodging, ducking, diving and shakey the whole time.

 

After about 4 walks and 5 runs between innings I wandered over to the coach stood about 10' away from him and was fiddling with my mask and I said quietly...."it is hard to call strikes if the catcher doesn't catch the ball."  He said "it was an experiment we'll fix it".  Next kid out of the dugout was pretty good and it was smooth sailing from there. 

 

It was my first year and the experienced guy I was with asked me when we got together in about the 3rd inning..."what did you say to the coach?"  When I told him he said "good for you and nice job of running the game".  First inning took almost 30 minutes and the next 5 got in the two hour time limit.  The kids got a full game and no one was upset or was worse for wear.

 

All 3 of my boys have and still umpire for various levels of rec baseball - starting with 8-10 year olds and eventually working for an association doing men's summer baseball league games. They also have and still play the game thru HS and College. They each pitch and thus have learned how hard it is to be behind the plate with everything going on and still attempt to call "a good game". I think some would say that's "perspective".  Nothing like "gravity ball pitches with perfect parabolas" to start your umpire career... 

 

I was watching one son umpire one day and some parent near me about 150' away from the action started berating a call. After he was done - I walked over to him, introduced myself as a board member in charge of scheduling umpires and asked him to show up the following Tuesday to work a game at first base. I wasn't very quiet about my announcement either.  Needless to say that dad shut up and obviously wasn't at the field the following Tuesday. From reports I got from other parents from the team - he never was boisterous again at a game - which increased their enjoyment (eg - I got a lot of thank you!'s).  Over the years on various teams I have found it's usually one parent who starts it... Then others feel emboldened and they chime in.

 

For someone considering it with their son/daughter baseball/softball player - I think it's an excellent idea. You have to know your child though - do they have a basic knowledge of the rules and can they be assertive if they need to be. Be prepared to go to a few games with your child until you feel confident that they are comfortable in dealing with game situations. After games be sure to discuss what happened on the field. Be sure to watch the game, take notes, whatever. Would you have ever just dropped your child at a T-Ball practice for 1-2 hours?  No - so why would you drop your child off at an event where you know people can be jerks.

 

If you work for a league that doesn't support it's umpires - then it's time to quit working for that league - tell them either support me or I'm done.... I'm sure if a number of the "workers" banded together and said the same thing - the League would take notice... Hey wait - that's union like isn't it?  Oh and that's what you get if you hire "more seasoned" (and costly) umpires from an association. If the League says ok quit we'll find someone else, then you know they could care less about the quality of their game.