One of the topics raised by Larry Thompson, Grand Slam Tournaments Owner/CEO, was concern over the shortage of umpires and challenges in recruiting (particularly young adults) as the national average age of baseball officials has risen to 54. We know travel baseball has experienced explosive growth over the past several years, but have we looked closely at the impact on our officials? We’ve heard and seen verbal abuse from coaches and fans cited as a contributing factor to the umpire shortage, but what other factors are at play? And most importantly, what can each of us do to help solve the problem?
To get better insight and advice, we reached out to three of the top UICs (Umpire in Chief) in youth baseball across the country, each with more than three decades of experience officiating and educating officials, and the founder of UmpireBible.com to hear what they had to say. We hope their perspectives give you an inside look at the challenges we face as a youth sports community, and inspire you to think about ways you can be part of the solution.
Our contributors:
James Jesse, Vice President (Umpires) for Grand Slam Tournaments (GS), leads corporate oversight of all GS umpires and directly manages a team of 60 umpires in Atlanta, Georgia. Jesse played baseball for many years, served in the U.S. Army for 15 years, and began officiating 32 years ago.
Marty Clark, Umpire in Chief (UIC) and Tournament Director for Diamond Nation, became an umpire 44 years ago, inspired by his older brother AL who went on to become an MLB umpire. Marty has worked with Diamond Nation in Flemington, NJ for the past ten years where he manages a staff of 95 umpires.
John Turner, founder of Central Georgia Umpires lead a staff of 100 umpires officiating games at East Cobb Baseball (ECB) Complex and surrounding venues in Marietta, Georgia. He began officiating 38 years ago, working under his father who ran the umpire association for the organization where John grew up playing baseball. He was an official at the NCAA level for one year and served more than 10 years at the high school level. John is currently officiating baseball in Toronto, Canada.
Nick Gattuccio, founder of UmpireBible.com, created this resource five years ago to support umpires, coaches and fans in their knowledge of the rules of baseball in plain speak. A retired technical writer for Microsoft, he served as a youth sports umpire for 18 years in the Seattle, WA area. Nick blends these skills to help improve our understanding of the game.
What’s driving the shortage of umpires in youth sports?
More games. And better job opportunities with less harassment and risk.
“I don’t really think there’s a shortage of officials. Maybe there are too many games being played,” shares John Turner with a laugh. With the reduction of local league play and the dramatic growth in travel teams and tournament organizations over the past several years, we’re experiencing a dramatic increase in the quantity of games being played. For example, a national championship tournament to be held at East Cobb Baseball Complex this summer will bring in more than 250 teams and offer a 7-game minimum. That’s 1750 games or 3,500 umpire spots during a 7-day timeframe. Before the dawn of travel ball, a local league team typically played just 2-3 games per week for a three-month spring season. So while the demand for more baseball games has increased, we’ve outpaced the growth rate of umpires joining the ranks.
“There is a shortage of umpires,” says John Turner, “That is a true statement, but to say that we’re having a hard time recruiting umpires just because parents are abusive is a scapegoat. Travel organizations need to help drive umpire recruiting and retention with dollars and cents. Going back 35 years ago, I played baseball in high school and then got in to officiating. For most of us at that time, if you didn’t play in college or professionally, there were very few avenues for you to continue with baseball other than officiating. There’s less of a need to officiate to stay involved in the game today, because young adults can continue to play in amateur leagues or pursue opportunities as coaches or administrators within the travel ball industry. Young adults have so many other part-time job opportunities before them now to earn more money with less hassle.”
