As part of our
joint celebration of "Officials Appreciation Week," the SCIAC and its coordinators of officials are pleased to share some thoughts on the pathway to becoming an official. Our first feature covering baseball is courtesy of Billy Haze.
SCIAC Officiating Hub
“There are many pathways into officiating baseball. For the Division III level, it usually comes with a few years of training. Baseball is unique in the fact that there are two distinct paths – amateur and professional.
The amateur path is the official who usually works their way from Little League-pony/travel-High School-Community College/NAIA-NCAA Div III-Div II-and capping out at Div I. Mind you, all these levels have variation within them; there are certain milestones you must reach and excel at to move up the chain. There can also be an opportunity to cut in line and start right at HS then move straight to DIII.
The professional route is similar to the amateur; each potential umpire must attend an MLB-sanctioned clinic. From there, some are invited to a month-long school session in Florida. If you pass the school in the top tier, you get placed in the minor leagues, moving up from Rookie ball-Short A-Long A-Class A advanced-AA-AAA-MLB rotation-Full-time MLB. Again, each level has its own hierarchy of steps they must pass to move up."
Interested in Becoming an Umpire?
Start your new career or side hustle, or just give a little back to a sport you love today!
SCIAC officials in the postseason and moving up levels
The SCIAC has had several officials excel recently both in Division III and at other level:
Michael Chukerman recently worked the NCAA DIII World Series.
Pete Saucedo has had numerous DIII regional and super-regional appearances, but has elected to work his way into the DI postseason mix. He worked the West Coast Tournament recently and
Andrew Wolverton got his first DI regional this past year.
Dale Gardner, Scott Jones, Jay Allen, and
Roger Rangel are all NAIA World Series umpires.
Brad Merda is likely to join them soon.
Scott Jones, Denver Dubreuil, and
Dale Gardner are DII super-regional officials and are slated for the World Series soon.
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