CINCINNATI — While spring can mean “all things are new again”, it’s more of the same in youth sports, with more and more games being affected by the referee and umpire shortage.
Kevin Guess has been umpiring baseball for as long as he can remember. He’s used to getting ready for games in the trunk of his car.
He does it on the daily, in this case, a freshman contest.
“I have a game just about every day,” Guess said.
That doesn’t leave much time to stop at home between work and a game each night.
And it’s gotten busier- officiating almost every sport in the book.
Guess calls a strike during a freshman baseball game (Spectrum News/Katie Kapusta)
“About any sport that needs an official, I do,” he said.
That’s because the OHSAA and other leagues are desperate for officials. Sometimes, even having to cancel games because of a lack of refs and umps. A survey of high school associations showed that about 50,000 officials across the country have left the industry since 2019. The shortage is affecting games for Guess.
“Unfortunately, with the shortage of umpires, there are times where we don’t even have a base umpire,” Guess said. “You do it all.”
Guess said he believes there are several factors to the shortage, including the pandemic and parental behavior.
“COVID really caused a lot of umpires to get away from umpiring,” he said. “A little bit in softball too.”
Parental behavior has been a problem across the country. Recently, a little league in New Jersey adopted a rule. If a parent confronts an umpire, they must officiate three games before being allowed back as a spectator. Guess said the idea is genius.
Parents are one reason why so many people have stopped being officials (Spectrum News/Katie Kapusta)
“I think it makes a lot of sense,” he said. “I think a lot of times the parents forget that those of us that do this, we’re not really aspiring to become professionals.”
Guess said when umpiring a game, especially alone, he always tries his best, but he knows that’s not always enough for parents and coaches.
“I think that the competitiveness of people, they understand that you’re one person but yet, they ultimately want the call to go the right way,” Guess said.
The OHSAA is using a new online tool to train officials rather than traditional classroom training. The hope is the new virtual classroom will be a way to encourage more people to get into officiating.
If you are interested in becoming a referee or umpire with the OHSAA, visit OHSAA.org.
