As in an umpire, referee etc. I assume that major league umps start out in the minors just like the players. Do pro football & basketball refs start out officiating college games? Do the pros exclusively hire this way? How much are they paid?
And how do you get hired for the collegiate & minor leagues? What sort of background prepares you to be a football referee? Someone once told me a lot of them are lawyers which kinda sounds logical, I guess.
It just seems that nobody ever says, “When I grow up I’m gonna be an umpire” and yet obviously many people do. So how does it happen?
For baseball, if you want to go the pro route, you have to go to one of the two approved umpire schools, which I believe are run by Jim Evans and Harry Wendelstedt.
They winnow out a large group into a small few, who get jobs in the low minors, where the pay sucks, the conditions are awful and the chances of advancement are slight.
If you want to umpire amateur baseball in your area, you probably should get in touch with a little league and start there. You need to get some instruction and then you can possibly work your way up to college baseball. But that’s a long shot.
In football, it’s pretty much the same path as players. You start in high school ball (usually JV games), then you get to do varsity games, then you might get promoted to junior college or D-II or D-III games and then maybe bigtime college games and then the NFL.
In basketball, the college refs usually come up from the high school ranks. NBA refs are usually groomed from the start by the NBA, working in the summer leagues. NBA and NCAA basketball officiating are such different styles that it’s pretty rare to see a ref make the switch from one level to the next.
IANAR (despite what you may think from my postings on this board). But I cover a lot of high school sports and I’ve met a lot of refs. And I tried out once to be a softball umpire when I was in grad school at UC Berkeley and there was no one job which I have ever applied for in my life that I failed the tryout so spectacularly as that. I couldn’t believe how hard it was and it was slow pitch softball
If I had my choice of picking a sport to officiate, I would choose football. It’s not as much work as the other sports.
I have to take tests every year to umpire High School ball (Baseball and Fastpitch Softball). College ball doesn’t require a test, but the coaches have a say in who umpires their home games, so if you’re no good, you’ll get blacklisted. They take home field advantage to the extreme. I hate it.
I got into officiating for enjoyment, and while it’s fun to call the good ball, a losing coach on your ass all day can sure suck the life out of you.:rolleyes: So often they don’t know what their even talking about.
Availability is the key to rec league and high school ball. You’ll move up fastest by being available and NEVER complaining about your partner or the level of ball you receive. Also, dressing like your going to be inspected by a military uh… person helps too. I always shine my shoes before every game, make sure my clothes are clean, etc.
To get into officiating at the local level, contact your local parks & rec department that offers the sport you’re interested in, and speak to the head of athletics. That person should be able to tell you who they use for officials. You probably won’t find umpire associations in the phone book, as they’re usually not that well organized. Those officials will be able to tell you who to talk to about high school ball, and college ball.
The NFL demands a lot of experience at lower levels, basically. This page at nfl.com answers the question, sort of:
[quote] How can I become an NFL official?
Here are the basic requirements necessary to qualify as an official in the National Football League:[ul][li]We expect our candidates to have a minimum of 10 years of experience in officiating football, at least five of which have been on a varsity collegiate or other minor professional level.Our candidates must be in excellent physical condition and belong to an accredited football officials association or have previous experience in football as a player or coach.[/ul][/li][/quote]