Moving Up - Is it worth it

[Mike M]

I agree with Bob. It comes down to your personal reasons and goals for umpiring.

In my case, I made a decision to get involved in umpiring after my son completed playing Babe Ruth. I wanted to stayed involved in the game and also give something back. Since I do not like to coach, I opted to umpire at the Babe Ruth level. That was three years ago.

My umpire goals: To do a Babe Ruth World Series Tournament and be regarded as an excellent HS varsity umpire. In the past three years, I have made progress toward those goals while maintaining a reasonable balance of raising a family with three teenagers. Next year, I expect to start getting lower level Varsity assignments and I have my first State Babe Ruth tournament this weekend.

I truly enjoy interacting with young men as they transition from kids to adults and I have no desire to umpire at any other level.