Lack Of Umpires For Little Leagues Has Reached A Fever Pitch

The issue of the lack of umpires — or officials in any youth sport for that matter — has been ongoing for the past few years, but it seems to have reached a fever pitch.

Multiple littles leagues across the East End, which begin play in less than a month, have been told by the organizations that have typically provided umpires in the past to not expect them this spring. While the lack of umpires is an issue throughout Suffolk County, points farther east seem to be the last in line in receiving help simply due to the excessive traveling some of the officials would have to make to get to the games that typically start around 5:45 p.m. Compounded with traffic woes that remain on the South Fork, some umpires aren’t finding it worth their time to make the trip. Fees for umpires vary from league to league, from about $75 to $150 per game.

“If they have to travel out to us on a Friday night game, most umpires will take a job that pays more and is closer to home,” East Hampton Little League President Dave Rutkowski said on Monday. “It’s actually part of a bigger problem, and it’s not just limited to Little League baseball and softball. There is a problem getting officials in any youth sport, and COVID certainly has had an impact on that.

“It makes it tough for an organization like us,” he added. “We’re reaching out to the local people. If you’ve played the game before in the past, and you wouldn’t mind helping us out, we’d welcome you with open arms.”

Elisa Carney, who handles the umpires for East Hampton, said the league pays its umpires handsomely, especially when organizations raised their per game fees over the past few years. But she was told by one organization that it simply couldn’t provide any umpires for the upcoming season.

“They kind of just said, ‘We’re not doing it,’ leaving us in a big time bind,” she said. “I’ve been sending emails to families [to ask] if they know anyone who may be interested in helping us out. We are also putting feelers out to high schoolers, to see if they would be interested. And we would pay — we’re not asking for volunteers. But we’re kind of just stuck on how to proceed because our little league is pretty big, it’s almost 400 kids. That’s a lot of games to cover. The younger leagues don’t need umpires, but from about third grade up to sixth grade, we need the umpires for them, more importantly.

“It’s not a good situation,” she added. “We don’t really have an answer.”

Because of its location, East Hampton might be the area most strongly affected by the lack of officials, but it’s certainly not the only organization. Sag Harbor Little League President Beth Gregor said her league faces the same dilemma, which actually started last year when some umpires canceled or didn’t show up at all. Like East Hampton, Sag Harbor will be recruiting high school and college students along with any interested community members.

“If we still are unable to secure anyone to umpire, then our coaches will have to step in,” she said. “Technically, little league games can be played without an umpire, but experience has shown that the games run much more smoothly when we do have someone neutral calling the game.”

The issues aren’t any better farther west on the South Fork. Rick Martel, who helps run Hampton Bays Little League with John Tedesco, said the problem has been worsening the past few years. Typically, Hampton Bays used three volunteers to umpire a game, he said. When numbers started to wane, and leagues wanted paid umpires, there were no problems, even if it meant using one paid umpire for an entire game.

Just before COVID, Martel noticed more and more umpires retiring, and post-COVID, most have now retired, he said.

“We offered to train and certify new young umps with no results,” he said. “Costs are going higher and higher as many don’t want to travel long distance, and, honestly, don’t have to. So supply and demand has kicked in. We have been lucky that we have had two local umpires do most of our games. Not sure about this year.

“But, yes, it is approaching crisis levels.”

Bill Dawson, who is the president of East End Little League, which serves the western side of Southampton Town, from East Quogue to Speonk, said he is not quite sure what to expect this season. District 36 encompasses all little leagues east of Route 112, including Longwood, east to East Hampton. While all leagues are responsible for securing umpires for their games, the district administrator, Dawson said, has reached out on behalf of all leagues to inquire with multiple agencies what their outlook is on the situation.

“We are all in this together, after all,” Dawson said, “but I have yet to hear more about what the prognosis is.”

Trying to get ahead of the situation, Dawson, like the leagues east of his, will be looking to foster a program where teenage baseball and softball players assist in officiating, either to make some extra cash or earn community service hours.

“It could be a wonderful way for them to gain valuable leadership experience working with adults. And sharing their love of the game would surely be beneficial with our program, as well,” he said. “We are considering this, particularly for our younger Minors divisions.”

While the situation is dire for many, Rutkowski stopped short of saying games would be canceled because of it. He just said it may simply take a village to help the youth continue to play the sports that they love.

“We’re still going to have a season,” he said definitively. “We’ve had games in the past where an umpire calls up and cancels last minute and we’re scrambling an hour before game time. It may just be something where we have to grab a few parents here and there and a few of the older kids. We’re just asking if people could get out there and help so the kids could play.”