It’s been a long time since I sat down to write a Nosebleed Section column, but something I’ve seen on Facebook in recent weeks has inspired me to get back to my writing roots.
If you follow one of our local Little Leagues you have probably seen the same posts I have. In what seems like a daily occurrence, a Little League posts on Facebook asking for volunteers.
Most days, it’s a league asking for people to volunteer to umpire a baseball or softball game.
This week, Waverly Little League put out a post about the need for volunteers in order to keep their concession stand running.
In the post, it says there are 183 kids in Waverly Little League this season, and if each kid’s parent volunteered just one night, they would have more than enough help to keep the concession stand open for every game.
Little Leagues are 100 percent volunteer-run organizations and they have provided our kids a chance to play baseball for decades because of the people who have gave their time as volunteers.
It’s pretty sad to see our local Little Leagues – where most of us older folks played when we were growing up – have to beg for help.
When it comes to umpires, I can’t help to think of my Little League days in Athens, and all the people who were literally there on a nightly basis to call balls and strikes.
Names like Dr. Henry Shenfield, Dr. Ferrol Lee, Jimmy Apollonio, Jim Saxon and George Stires immediately come to mind. Heck, if you ask someone who played Athens Little League in the 90s and early 2000s, I bet most can even do an impression of each umpire’s strike call.
Back then, their only form of compensation was maybe a hot dog special at the end of a three-game night.
Now, some leagues are even offering money to umpire games – and they still can’t fill the schedule.
I’ve been over to a few games this year and they only had one umpire – working the plate and the bases, which is obviously not ideal.
I’ve seen high school baseball players step up to umpire this year, but that can also be tough with their own game schedules, so they can’t do them all.
It’s unfortunate that it has come to this point, but it seems like it’s necessary to mandate parents volunteer at least a couple of hours each season.
Athens has each kid’s parent work the concession stand at least once throughout the season, and their concession stand seems to be doing quite well. If they haven’t already, I would recommend other leagues follow their lead.
I’m sure there are plenty of parents in our local leagues that played the game and have enough knowledge to also volunteer as umpires for a couple games each year.
Even if you’re not a parent and you’re reading this, think back to your time playing Little League and some of the people who were there every night umping games. Most of the men I mentioned earlier didn’t always have kids in the league – they just did it for the love of the game and to give back to their community.
It’s time for the next generation to step up and do the same. So, if you know baseball or softball, can pass a background check (which Little League pays for) and have some free time in the evenings or on the weekend, contact your local Little League and see if they need an umpire.
Our community always seems to step up when someone is in need. Most times that happens when something awful has just occurred. But this time, it’s about making sure the kids of this generation get to enjoy America’s pastime just like we did.
