Angry coaches, nasty parents could be to blame for umpire shortage

When Carter McCullough takes his place behind home plate, he's kind of living the dream — getting paid to watch a game he loves in the fresh air all summer.

But the 16-year-old second-year umpire also knows that abuse from coaches and parents comes with the territory, a fact that has made recruiting young officials like him harder in recent years.

"You do get some rough games with coaches arguing a call, and then once the coaches get going, the parents start in as well," said McCullough, a Grade 10 student at Saint Andre Bessette Catholic high school.

"It can be a little bit intimidating, but it's just baseball. Most of the games are fun, there's just a few games a year that it happens."

Baseball leagues across North America have had trouble in recent years recruiting umpires. Two are needed for every game — one at home plate and one in the field.

"It is a significant challenge," said Dylan MacMillan, the ump assigner for the London District Baseball Association (LDBA). He has to staff 1,200 games every season, and that's just the elite level. Lower-level games have to find umps on their own, and after they get some experience, they usually move up to MacMillan's level.

"It's not an easy thing to do," he said of officiating baseball games. "It's high stress. The coaches are upset, the parents are upset. You build good relationships along the way, it's not all bad, but the stress that comes with it is a significant drawback for people."

Youth baseball catcher safe from dust devil thanks to umpire

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A Little League baseball game in Jacksonville, Fla., saw a dust devil briefly envelope a seven-year-old catcher before the teenaged home plate umpire leapt into action, grabbing and dragging the catcher out of the swirling dirt.

MacMillan has increased how much umps earn per game to sweeten the pot. Entry level umpires like McCullough make about $25 a game, though the pay goes up with each level.

MacMillan has a core roaster of about 60 umps that he calls on regularly, though about 25 to 30 of them work most of the games — up to 100 games in a summer season. "It's a thankless job. And since the minimum wage has gone up, teenagers want to work in retail or in fast food."

That's what Eldon Dunseith has found as well. He's the umpire in chief for Oakridge Optimist Baseball, which has players as young as eight-years-old and umpires as young as 11.

"The last year or two have been more difficult," he said. "Because of COVID, fewer people have been certified as umpires and fewer are moving up in the ranks."

Rumours about bad behaviour among parents and coaches is also keeping some people away, though the negative situations happen infrequently, Dunseith said.

For McCullough, nothing will beat his summer job.

"I'ts a good way to make summer money with flexible hours and I don't have to work in a grocery store," he said.