WSLL - Umpires

WELCOME

WELCOME to our umpire page. Here, you’ll learn about opportunities to earn pay or refunds or simply more about the great game of baseball. The program types and rewards, training available, and administrative details are described below. Feel free to contact Umpire In Chief, Al Beyer at waltsou[email protected] or Training Director, Steve Gillingham at [email protected], with any questions. We’d be happy to talk to you.

HOW DO I BECOME AN UMPIRE

Starting the journey to become an umpire starts with 2 simple steps.

Step 1: For adults (18 years old and over during the season). Email your name, indicating you are over 18 to Al Beyer at [email protected]. The league Safety Officer will then submit your name to Little League’s background investigation contractor, JD Palantine, which will send you a link to their application form. Completing the form takes only a few minutes and is required of all Little League volunteers. Al will respond with a welcome notice including the times and dates for required training and an invitation to the online training site.

- For youth umpires, complete the Youth Umpire Agreement, have it signed by your parent or guardian, and email to Al Beyer at [email protected]. Al will respond with a welcome notice including the times and dates for required training and an invitation to the online training site.

Step 2: Complete the training outlined in the training section below.

UMPIRE OPTIONS

We offer 4 different umpiring options, each with its unique incentives described in detail in the next box.

Full refund (Team Umpire) option (Adults only)
Partial refund (Part-time team umpire) option (Adults only)
From the stands (pure volunteer, when the spirit moves you)
Youth umpire paid option (school credit also available).

We offer special mentoring and training for each option and all offer camaraderie, engagement with the league, and a deeper knowledge of the game.

One of our most popular option is the PARENT/CHILD OPTION, where parents and youth umpires share a unique bond, learning and working together — and earning the youth umpire a $10 bonus for each game if the youth works the bases; a $15 bonus if the youth works the plate.

GAME SCHEDULING

Game assigning is done through Arbiter. After you’ve completed training, we'll send you a link inviting you to open an Arbiter account. There, you’ll be able to see available game assignments you can choose. The following guide explains the signup process. If you have technical questions please contact Erez Rotem at [email protected]

UMPIRE REIMBURSEMENT PROCESS

Adult Umpires: Ask your manager to validate games at the end of season. Parents meeting the stated requirements will have their registration and volunteer fee returned as appropriate.

Youth Umpires: SEND IN YOUR INVOICE!**

Download the WSLL Youth Umpire Invoice: Record games you umpire as the season goes along. After the season scan and send the invoice to Al Beyer at [email protected] before June 30 to receive payment in July (Spring); and by October 31 to receive payment in November (Fall). Make sure to put your USPS mailing address at the bottom of the form. This is where your check will be mailed.

Youth Pay:

A Plate/Field - $25/$15
AA Plate/Field – $25/$15

AAA Plate/Field – $25/$20

Majors Plate/Field – $30/$20
IM Plate/Field - $35/$25

Fun Tournament Plate/Field - $45/$30
All Stars Field -$20

Bonus:
Working with parent bonus – 10 (field)/15(plate) per game
Training bonus – $30
- New Umpires: 101-107, Field Training, Scrimmage (if work 3 games)
- 2ns/3rd year umps: 3 courses and field training (If work 3 games)

INCENTIVES

Full Refund Option: Refunds both Registration and Volunteer Fee

Team Ump for your child’s team: Pitch calling for half of team’s regular season games, assigning another parent to umpire the bases or doing so yourself for the remaining regular season games.

Training: Online Rule Training and Field Training or Scrimmage, as prescribed by the Training Director.

Partial Refund Option: Refunds Volunteer Fee Only

Requires 5 games of service

Training: Online Rule Training and Field Training or Scrimmage, as prescribed by the Training Director.

From the Stands:

Refunds: N/A

Requires: N/A

Training: None, but recommend same as Partial Refund Option

Youth: (NB: depending on amount earned, youths could qualify for and are responsible for any self-employment taxes or contributions)

Umpires are paid for every game umpired and bonuses for number of games, completing prescribed training, and umpiring with parent. See pay rates in the Umpire Reimbursement Box.

Training: Online Rules Training, Mechanics Field Training, and Scrimmage, as prescribed by the Training Director.

TRAINING

WSLL offers a multi-level training program to provide the knowledge, skill, and confidence umpiring requires. Once you enroll, we will send an invitation to the online training. The training includes these phases.

On-Line Training: Covers rules, umpire responsibilities, umpire movement and signals, situations, safety, game management.

On-field training: Two hour position by position training in mid to late March in the spring and late August/early September in the fall. Makeups available.

Scrimmage evaluation: a few innings of a live scrimmage, held on various dates before the season begins.

Bonuses paid for completed training if umpire works 3 games.

UMPIRE TIP OF THE WEEK

We know that one kind of strike is a foul ball, and there are generally 3 kinds:
·     a ball that settles on the infield (where it stops determines whether it is foul);
·     a bounding ball that goes into the outfield (where it passes 1st and 3rd base determines what it is - if any part of the ball crosses over any part of the base, it's fair, even if it next touches foul territory);
·     a fly ball (where it first lands in relation to the foul line determines what it is - if it hits any part of the line or falls inside it, the ball is fair).
However there is another type of foul ball that sometimes occurs, and it is not specifically mentioned in the rule book. If a foul ball goes directly to and hits the batter (it’s usually the batter’s foot or leg) while the batter is in the box, the batter is not out. This is true even if the foot or leg is hit outside of the box. By custom, because the batter can do nothing to control that, it’s just a foul. Mechanic: Throw hands up to signal time, yelling, “Time, hit the batter in the box.”

VOLUNTEER

WSLL Families, without volunteer support it is not possible to provide the full baseball experience to our children. There are several opportunities to assist the league to provide the best experience possible. Please select the link below to see a list of ways to volunteer.

Ways to Volunteer

FORMER WSLL PLAYER UMPIRES MLB GAME

WSLL’s own Brennan Miller called up for first MLB game Friday in Baltimore vs. Twins.
Umped first game at Byron. WSLL’s second youth ump to ump an MLB game.

Website Manager

West Springfield

Little League, VA