USSSA General Umpiring question

[dementeddj]

Can an umpire play in the same league he is officiating? Scenario: One if the umpires for our rec league is playing half the games in the season on a friends' team (CoRec) and umpiring the rest of the season? Some of the members of my team were curious if it is allowed. I wouldn't see any issues if he was umping men's league, kids ball, or in another neighboring town, but personally I don't think that it should be allowed. Is there something somewhere stating anything on this or would this be strictly a local league ruling? Thank you for your assistance everybody!

 

[beernbombs]

It happens here, on occasion, when fill-ins are necessary. I don't think there is a rule against it, nor do I have a problem with it.

Except when a close call doesn't go our way and it was obviously a premeditated decision to screw our team.

 

[rhound50]

I seriously doubt there is a rule in the USSSA or any rule book that covers this. Seems like it would be up to the league director what they thought was reasonable.

 

[NDBlue]

We have a bunch of umpires that still play around here. Of course they're not scheduled to umpire on the nights they are scheduled to play. Never heard of an issue except when I get the "but this guy is an umpire too and he says XXXXXX" argument.

 

[PHXCobra]

Out here I've been told if I umpire somewhere I can't play at those fields. That isn't much of an issue because there are a ton of places to play and umpire

 

[IrishBlue]

Locally and Nationally

In league play we have some umpires that call games in the leagues they play in. This is rare but not prohibited. I don't know of any ASA rule prohibiting it

For National play then an umpire cannot be behind the plate if a club or team from his region is playing but they can take the corners.

Internationally the same rule applies as for National play. An umpire cannot take the plate if their country is playing, but they can take the corners.

The only exception is if both teams are from the same country then the neutrality rule can be disregarded if required.

These are under the ESF and ISF rules.

 

[NCASAUmp]

In ASA, there's no real "rule" against it. However, whether a rule, policy or guideline exists, I usually advise against an umpire calling games for his old team when possible, particularly in the same season. It's a conflict of interest, and he'll get nothing but extra grief from both his old opponents and his old teammates.

But sometimes, you just can't help it. If he really wants to be an umpire and there's only so much ball in the area, then eventually, he's going to have to call those games. Since it's hard enough to find new umpires, I say you should let him have a chance to prove himself.

 

[EAJuggalo]

I actually just dealt with this situation two weeks ago. I called a game involving a team I had played on the last 6 years. Nobody had any problems, other than my old team knowing they weren't getting away with anything since I knew all their tricks and was aware of their knowledge level of the rules. If the umpire shows a bias one way or another something would have to be done, but I'd like to think that most would set that aside.

 

[Gulf Coast Blue]

Can an umpire play in the same league he is officiating? Scenario: One if the umpires for our rec league is playing half the games in the season on a friends' team (CoRec) and umpiring the rest of the season? Some of the members of my team were curious if it is allowed. I wouldn't see any issues if he was umping men's league, kids ball, or in another neighboring town, but personally I don't think that it should be allowed. Is there something somewhere stating anything on this or would this be strictly a local league ruling? Thank you for your assistance everybody!

I was not allowed to call High School ball for eight years in my District due to daughters playing. I did call some in surrounding districts on nights my daughters did not play. The nepotism/favoritism rule goes so far in Texas that you cannot call in a district that a spouse works in......for five years after the fact.

It is kind of crazy.....but, you know it going in.

I called HS ball well before my daughters were of age and luckily my work was in another County.....so I could get in a few games......

But I never umpired on the nights they played anyway.

 

[spos21ram]

In the league I run, we have umpires that play in the league, but unless it's an emergency situation they only ump games in a different division. We do have crossover games though in the middle of the season and players will ump games that have teams in their division. I have never got a complaint about it, but that's because the umpires are good, show no favoritism, etc.

 

[rhound50]

In the league I run, we have umpires that play in the league, but unless it's an emergency situation they only ump games in a different division. We do have crossover games though in the middle of the season and players will ump games that have teams in their division. I have never got a complaint about it, but that's because the umpires are good, show no favoritism, etc.

In all honesty you just haven't had anyone complain yet. No matter how unbiased or correct an umpire is you are going to have pissed off people on one side or the other. The umpire playing favorites is just a good excuse for one team to complain no matter if the umpire was correct or not.

 

[spos21ram]

In all honesty you just haven't had anyone complain yet. No matter how unbiased or correct an umpire is you are going to have pissed off people on one side or the other. The umpire playing favorites is just a good excuse for one team to complain no matter if the umpire was correct or not.

Not saying it won't happen, but the chances of someone complaining about this are very slim. Will players argue calls? Definitely, but accuse us of being bias probably wont happen.

Up until this year I had a different USSSA umpire group do our league. Had several complaints about their quality. This year I hand picked some players I thought would do a good job and that were well liked among their team and the league and formed my own group. I still have a couple of the old group come down and everyone always says "Why are they back? Keep using the local guys, it's better and more fun".

 

[EdFred]

Buckster (on here) played with me on men's and umped coed in the same league.