Idea to tackle youth umpire shortage: Improve the behavior of coaches, parents
MINNEAPOLIS -- If you've attended any youth sporting events this summer, you may have noticed a bit of a umpire and referee shortage.
Parents and assistant coaches have had to help officiate more than ever before.
Some nonprofit organizations say there's a good reason for that.
"The volume of games compared to the number of officials or umpires is just not there," said Dawson Blanck.
Even in youth sports, there are supply and demand issues. Right now, more than 50% of youth umpires are 55 or older, but only 12% are under the age of 34. And Blanck thinks he knows why.
"People are leaving it quicker than they stay in it because of the conduct. Because of the behavior that is shown at games from youth coaches, youth parents," Blanck said.
Blanck is with Minnesota Youth Athletic Services (MYAS). It's a nonprofit that partners with parent volunteer organizations to promote positive behavior at games. He says, over the past month, they've received about 15 complaints regarding mistreatment of youth umpires.
"You have a 10-year-old game and you have a 14-year-old umpires that's umpiring the game. And that's not helpful in any situation, because that's going to be one, less person we are going to have to umpire in the future," Blanck said.
So they've created a game plan to help officials.
Umpires are now keeping score in another way. At games, there's a report card within the scorecard, where parents and teams are being judged on their behavior.
"When something does happen that's negative, especially toward umpires because of the shortage, we wanted to have more of a formalized reporting process for that," said Mark Arjes, of the organization Youth First.
He said a bad report card can lead to a game, or even a year-long suspension for a coach or parent. The goal is to grow the next generation of players along with the next generation of umpires.
"It's youth sports. Nobody gets a job or a college scholarship because you win a 10 or 12-year-old game. So keep the perspective right," Arjes said.
As part of the umpire report card, teams that exhibit good behavior are sometimes recognized at Twins games or Saints games.
Blanck said youth umpires in Minnesota can make up to $25 an hour.
