Near the end of the season, just before playoffs began, a regional youth softball league disqualified all of Haverhill’s teams after umpires refused to continue servicing their games.
According to a May 28 email from the Essex County Women’s Softball League Advisory Committee, the area umpire association described “continued issues of poor sportsmanship” on the part of the private, pre-high school program. Only the 12-and-under and 14-and-under teams could not compete in the playoffs, according to a social media post by Haverhill Girls Softball. The post continued the Essex County league does not provide playoffs for younger players.
Though she does not have direct knowledge of the situation, Umpire-in-Chief for USA Softball’s Massachusetts Association Dianne Weissbach said, in her experience, parents and coaches are almost always the problem. A veteran official, she said she knows how to keep control of games, rarely needing to eject disruptive adults. One time, she was umpiring a high school game and a coach didn’t like her call at first base.
“So what’d he do? He came charging out of the dugout from the third base side, right across the field. ‘That was the worst call I ever saw, blah blah.’ I go, ‘coach, this is just the call I made. This is what I saw,’” she said.
When he asked her to get a second opinion from another umpire, she stood her ground because she knew she hadn’t missed any elements of the play. He wouldn’t drop it.
“And I go, ‘coach, you’re the only adult on that bench. If I eject you, the game’s over for your whole team.’ ‘Would you do that to the girls?’ I’m like, ‘you’d be doing it to the girls, not me.’ So, he’s deflecting,” she said.” And he went back to his bench and shut his mouth and finished the game.”
Umpires must maintain a confident “presence,” she said. The job also takes a certain personality type and deep understanding of the many rules. She said of younger, more inexperienced umpires, “If they’re getting abused every time they go out there, they’re going to hang them up, they’re not going to do it, and eventually we’re not going to have enough officials.”
Both Weissbach and Buddy Brooks, of USA Softball’s Massachusetts Association, pointed to the declining number of umpires even as the sport has grown and become more competitive. Over the years, Brooks said parents have become more “entitled,” fixated on “winning at all costs.”
“They have to win that medal. They have to win that five-dollar piece of plastic they call a trophy. And if they don’t win that, it’s the end of the world,” he said.” And It’s sad. It’s not teaching the kids, sometimes you’ve got to lose.”
Parents have put more money into the sport, according to Weissbach, signing their children up for softball organizations which promise tournaments and indoor practices. “They all think their kids is the next one to get a scholarship, to get something, yet they don’t see the end game,” she said. Most kids don’t make it that far.”
According to Brooks, the Haverhill Girls Softball struck a deal with the umpire association so its teams could compete in the Middle-Essex Summer League. He added the program has also been kicked out of a North Andover league. To make up for the lack of playoffs, the coaches for Haverhill’s 12-and-under and 14-and-under teams organized showcase games, according to a social media post.
Asia Willis, the recipient of the May 28 email and former president of the Haverhill board, no longer appears on the organization’s website and could not be reached. Richard White, currently listed as the president, did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication. Matt D’Agostino, a local umpire assignor, declined to comment.