Heightism in Officiating

[canadaump6]

Height and youth are related because if you are shorter you probably look younger.

[bob jenkins]

Height is also related to spelling ability. In a survey of children aged 5-18, scientists found that the taller children were better spellers than the shorter children.

[Canfootball52]

The fact of the matter is this. As sports officials, fans, players, and coaches will find any reason to verbally attack us. It's just the nature of the game. Let's face it, we're not the most popular people out there. I'm 6'1", 224 lbs. I take just as much abuse as someone smaller. In case you haven't guessed, I'm usually assigned the Umpire position. I had a player once call me a "pot-bellied porker". Did I let it bother me? Absolutely not. I think you're problem is that you're insecure about your appearance and you're ashamed of who you are. Maybe sports officiating is not for you. Not because of your size, but because of your own self-esteem. If you're just here to whine and complain, then go find another message board.

[canadaump6]

I am not insecure about who I am, my size or my abilities as an umpire. When that coach said "we've got a f***ing 12 year old doing our game, it didn't bother me,". Rather it was him that was bothered by my size, and that becomes my problem because size and quality of officiating are not related. I have experienced firsthand the effects of heightism. Don't make personal judgements about me or tell me to go to another forum.

By the way, I was in a really bad mood a few days ago when I started this thread, so that may account for some of the anger expressed in it, but I do stand by everything I wrote.

[fitump56]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

Height is also related to spelling ability. In a survey of children aged 5-18, scientists found that the taller children were better spellers than the shorter children.

Can't be, they are further away from the words.

[mick]

Originally Posted by fitump56

Can't be, they are further away from the words.

Ha !

[Tim C]

Let's see:

Dutch Rennert was 5' 6"

Dick Stello was 5' 6"

Both had long and successful MLB careers.

Of course neither tried to play and umpire maybe that is the issue.

Regards,

[Bassman]

Yeah ? Tell that to my association VP. He stands around 5' and some change and is not someone you want to mess with

[Welpe]

Height is one of those things you have no control over. You have to compensate for it by having a strong knowledge of the rules, a clean and neat uniform and most importantly, a firm (not overbearing) field presence.

At 5'9" I'm not very tall but I feel I carry myself well that it is not much of a problem. It made me laugh today, I was working a JV Football scrimmage at umpire, and I realized that every single defensive player for one team was taller than I was. In my eyes you can either complain about it or actively work to improve in the areas you can.

[ManInBlue]

You have stated that you look much younger than you are. Five years I think you said. That means you look 14. That has nothing to do with your height. I work with two umps that are 5'9" if they are that tall (5'6" is probably more accurate). They are 50+ years old, and look it. No one thinks they are 25 because they are short.

When you are short you must carry yourself different. It's already been said, but field presence is what makes the difference.

You are confusing height and age. How old you look could make a difference, how tall you are shouldn't. I'm not disputing what you stated (advancement, pay etc - I've never seen anything on the subject) - but you are blaming looking young on height - those two are not related, IMHO.

[canadaump6]

I do believe that height and appearance of age are related to each other, to a certain point. Being shorter can make you look younger if you aren't that old to begin with. For older umpires, height doesn't usually have that much of an influence on how old one looks. But even for older umpires, being short can make them seem easier to intimidate, and when a coach believes he can intimidate that is where the problems start. Furthermore, assignors and umpire in chiefs realize this, and will be much more hesitant to assign an umpire who is either short, or looks young, to higher level games.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by canadaump6

I do believe that height and appearance of age are related to each other, to a certain point. Being shorter can make you look younger if you aren't that old to begin with. For older umpires, height doesn't usually have that much of an influence on how old one looks. But even for older umpires, being short can make them seem easier to intimidate, and when a coach believes he can intimidate that is where the problems start. Furthermore, assignors and umpire in chiefs realize this, and will be much more hesitant to assign an umpire who is either short, or looks young, to higher level games.

It works in reverese, too. Billy Martin and Earl Weaver were short managers, and the umpires ran all over them.

Just in case that message is too subtle -- work on things you can control, and quit whining about the things you can't.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by canadaump6

I do believe that height and appearance of age are related to each other, to a certain point. Being shorter can make you look younger if you aren't that old to begin with. For older umpires, height doesn't usually have that much of an influence on how old one looks. But even for older umpires, being short can make them seem easier to intimidate, and when a coach believes he can intimidate that is where the problems start. Furthermore, assignors and umpire in chiefs realize this, and will be much more hesitant to assign an umpire who is either short, or looks young, to higher level games.

I enjoyed a Single A Minor League game last night in which the BU was 21 and 5'10 and the PU was 18 and 5'9. They had no problems managing the game or controlling 6'4" players and 40 year old managers.

The difference between them and you is that they are trained, they know the rules and mechanics, the present a professional appearance and work with confidence.

My son and I met up with them in their dressing room after the game and not once did either of them whine about their height or age.

[Four-Oh]

Originally Posted by Bassman

Yeah ? Tell that to my association VP. He stands around 5' and some change and is not someone you want to mess with

I remember once, when I was working as a table official in a men's (w)rec(k) hoops league, we had one of the better referees from our local board who was of about similar height. Of course, the comment "Maybe if you were a little taller, you could see the calls" drew an immediate flagrant T!

OTOH, I remember, when I started refereeing, someone making a comment about my size (I was a little too heavy then, but, then again, so was the player in question!), something like "Why don't you go eat a vegetable or something?!" but I didn't end up calling anything for it, because I couldn't actually believe that he had said it!

Andrew
#40