High schools in Oregon are looking for umpires to officiate softball and baseball games, as the state has seen available officials for the sports decrease by more than a third since 2010.
"All sports at the high school level have suffered a large shortage that kind of started many years ago,” said Jack Folliard, executive director of the Oregon Athletics Officials Association told Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Folliard said the COVID-19 pandemic only hastened the problem, as many officials opted to retire early when entire seasons were cancelled.
But Folliard also said that fan and athlete behavior is a part of the problem.
“The fan behavior has worsened over the years,” he said. “The umpires dress in their cars, and they have to walk from their cars to the field and oftentimes they’re verbally confronted by my fans.”
Junior varsity and freshman games have seen largest impact from the shortage of officials. Given that JV and freshman games have less restrictions than varsity games, they're often left with one umpire covering the entire game.
“In some instances, we just simply can’t cover them and the teams have to figure it out, maybe get the coaches to officiate — which is not a good idea,” Folliard said.
