The Huntsville Men’s Slo-pitch League will be focusing on numbers when it hosts its annual general meeting this month.

The league is facing a shortage of umpires for next season, a situation slo-pitch president Jeff Oliver hopes to rectify during the meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the town library.

“We are in dire need of umpires to the point where we may not have enough for our games next year. There doesn’t seem to be enough dedication to replace the umpires who may leave.”

The league had four umpires certified by Softball Ontario, the organization that regulates officials for Slo-Pitch Ontario, a group that the local league is a member of.

Oliver said that two of the senior officials – Tom Whale and Alex Robertson – are in their 70s and are willing to commit to next year providing their health holds out. The other two officials have stated they may not be interested in returning next season.

He admits that he might sound desperate in stating the league may not operate due to the lack of officials, but he said the situation is very serious.

“Worst-case scenario is that we have no umps next year. Our league is 20 teams strong but the number of qualified umpires in the area has diminished and is aging.  It is going to be a shame if I have to fold the league or turn away teams because we don’t have enough officials.”

Whale, who is the league’s chief umpire, said there are a number of qualified umpires who play in the league now. The reasons they won’t commit to the job are because they want to continue playing and they refuse to put up with the abuse from the players.

“We have some players who just want to complain, complain and complain. There are some times you can make four wrong calls and they won’t say a word. It is the odd hassle that arises once in a while that bothers us.”

Oliver agrees that the job is a tough one to handle for most people.

“It is a thankless job. I have even thought about bumping up the pay but that doesn’t appear to be appealing to a lot of people. Right now we pay $27 per game, two to three games a night.”

Whale adds that being a sanctioned umpire is expensive and may turn some people away from calling games.

“You have to buy your (strike) counter, you have to buy your shirts, hat and shoes. There is a layout of about $500 the first year and sometimes you’d be lucky to make $500 the first year.”   

Whale said the main answer to the problem of attracting umpires is simple: the league has to back the officials more than it has in the past.

“The league executive has to put its foot down. No more talking back to the umpires. I have been in ball for a long time and I have seen leagues who don’t allow players to get away with (abusing officials).”

Still, Whale said he and Robertson do plan to be back next season, even though  they will both turn 73 within the next few months.

 “We are going to stick it out for as long as we can. We love the game,” he said. “We are looking at two more people who have moved here. They are a husband and wife and they have played a lot of good ball.”

If anyone is interested in umpiring slo-pitch, they can go to the league’s website (www.huntsvilleslopitch.org) and send an e-mail through the contacts link to the president.