What’s your pay scale?

[stl_ump]

There are about 10 athletic associations within about a 30 min drive of where I work. A lot of competition for umpires. 16 field facility with 4 fields that are turf on the infield. 
Rec and travel teams. Scale is $30 to $55 depending on experience. Senior training umpires get the $55 down to never-evers getting the $30. 1 1/2 pay for solo games and 1/2 pay if you are at the field when a rainout is declared. Full pay if you get 1 pitch in before the rain starts.  Bonus program this year of $250 after 50 games and then $125 after each 25 games. 
Best part is we have a super supportive UIC who ALWAYS backs the umpires. Several very experienced senior umpires and our lead training umpire was crew chief in AAA for a couple of years. 
Very spoiled. 

[zoops]

What age you talking?  $70-80 here for HS varsity (7 inning), 50 for JV (5 inning), $65 for teenage travel ball (7 inning). 

[wolfe_man]

In my area of Ohio (all go 7 innings):

• HS Varsity $60 - 69
• HS JV $42 - 58
• HS Freshman $40
• Middle School $40 
• Travel Ball 12-16U $50
• American Legion $50
• Babe Ruth 13-16U $50
• Little League $35-50

[stl_ump]

I knew I left something out... this is for 8u-14u  Baseball and Softball.

And you can get as many games as you want staying at your "home" park.  No travel necessary.  A few years back I was doing 200 games plus.  And it's on a 1:40 min game time with no new inning starting after time expires.  So no 2:30 games because teams can't get an out.

[ErichKeane]

My org does just 9U to 14U, but our pay scale is:

9U-12U 1 and 2 Person:  $55
13U&14U: 1 Person: $80, 2 Person: $60

 

[stl_ump]

3 minutes ago, ErichKeane said:

My org does just 9U to 14U, but our pay scale is:

9U-12U 1 and 2 Person:  $55
13U&14U: 1 Person: $80, 2 Person: $60

 

Is that for any level of experience or is it a sliding scale?

[ErichKeane]

That is any level of experience it seems. I think the HS games in our area are higher, but thats the scale I see on our reftown.

[mark38090]

Rec ball here is $50 for everything machine pitch and up to 15yo. Everything is solo though but it's less than 1/4 mile from my office. 

[ErichKeane]

5 minutes ago, mark38090 said:

Rec ball here is $50 for everything machine pitch and up to 15yo. Everything is solo though but it's less than 1/4 mile from my office. 

My commutes are much worse Our assigner-site is the entire portland-metro area, and I live in the boonies a little, so I tend to have to go ~45mins to an hour to get to games unless they are 'local' in my town.

[Catch18]

I just watched an email come through from the local travel ball league…..

8U team looking for an umpire offering $75.

The local HS conferences thought they were doing a favor bumping from $55 to $58 for a varsity contest. Unbelievable.

[zoops]

$50-60 for HS varsity or American Legion?  Wow that's brutal.  Have a friend in the upper midwest whose group went to $110 for those levels.

[Old Skool]

TN HS Varsity $85 & reportedly going up next year to $90 or $95. If JV plays before with a drop dead time of 1:15 & the Varsity game starts within 30 minutes it's an extra $30 so you make $115 for the evening.  Most schools in my area of the state play the shorter JV games.  A few school's around me play a full JV & a full V game & in that case it's $170 for the doubleheader.  Next year it is my understanding the JV reduced rate for 1:15 games will go away.  The new pay scales for HS baseball haven't been shared yet so just going off what our assigner has told us is coming.

In nearby Mississippi it's $95 for the Varsity game with the JV set at $40 for the 1:15 JV contest so your making $135 for the doubleheader.

In the Memphis area this summer it has been communicated to umpires that the Perfect Game tournaments at USA Stadium in Millington, TN will be paying $110 per game with 2 hour time limits on 14U - 18U.  A competing organization called Diamond Dynasty Sports (2D Sports) from LA that hosts tournaments in the Memphis area every weekend all summer will either be paying $110 or $115 to compete with PG for what is becoming a dwindling # of umpires willing to endure the ridiculous summer heat & humidity.

Not sure how the younger ages, 13U & down are paying but the huge Snowden Grove complex in Southaven, MS has switched from USSSA to a PG affiliation & has always paid umps pretty well.  I remember the 13U & 14U ages paid what some of you have mentioned on here yo were getting for HS Varsity games.

[stl_ump]

Decent pay is one thing but as important if not more so is the backing you get (or don't) from the UIC's and other Admins.  We have a very low threshold for misbehaving Coaches or parents.  First ejection is a one game suspension (Rec ball or tourneys) 2nd is 5 games and after that you are gone for good.

19 hours ago, ErichKeane said:

My commutes are much worse Our assigner-site is the entire portland-metro area, and I live in the boonies a little, so I tend to have to go ~45mins to an hour to get to games unless they are 'local' in my town.

Ouch!  That's a long way to go.  Hopefully you use that mileage to offset you income come tax time.

[The Man in Blue]

On 5/7/2022 at 10:15 AM, Old Skool said:

TN HS Varsity $85 & reportedly going up next year to $90 or $95. If JV plays before with a drop dead time of 1:15 & the Varsity game starts within 30 minutes it's an extra $30 so you make $115 for the evening.  Most schools in my area of the state play the shorter JV games.  A few school's around me play a full JV & a full V game & in that case it's $170 for the doubleheader.  Next year it is my understanding the JV reduced rate for 1:15 games will go away.  The new pay scales for HS baseball haven't been shared yet so just going off what our assigner has told us is coming.

In nearby Mississippi it's $95 for the Varsity game with the JV set at $40 for the 1:15 JV contest so your making $135 for the doubleheader.

In the Memphis area this summer it has been communicated to umpires that the Perfect Game tournaments at USA Stadium in Millington, TN will be paying $110 per game with 2 hour time limits on 14U - 18U.  A competing organization called Diamond Dynasty Sports (2D Sports) from LA that hosts tournaments in the Memphis area every weekend all summer will either be paying $110 or $115 to compete with PG for what is becoming a dwindling # of umpires willing to endure the ridiculous summer heat & humidity.

Not sure how the younger ages, 13U & down are paying but the huge Snowden Grove complex in Southaven, MS has switched from USSSA to a PG affiliation & has always paid umps pretty well.  I remember the 13U & 14U ages paid what some of you have mentioned on here yo were getting for HS Varsity games.

 

@Old Skool I am a few hours south of you (Jackson) and I am not seeing that!  I've been calling Grand Slam, some Perfect Game, and worked for 2D for the first time this past weekend.  $50 a game (1:40 time limit) is the best I've seen.  Usually it is $45/game with 1:20 or 1:30 limits.

Went down to Hammond, LA last fall at $45/game (plus hotel room for the weekend).

I've been looking to "diversify my portfolio" over the next couple of months, can you hook me up up that way? 

During the week, I've been working a really low level local rec league that's paying $50/game with 1:15 time limit, typically 2 games each night.  10 minutes from my house, but it only runs about 5-6 weeks and they give me 2-3 nights.

[Old Skool]

@The Man in Blue

PM Sent

 

[ATXBlue]

Just north of the Austin Area

• HS Games-
  • Varsity or JV untimed- $75 + $15 for travel (one school in our coverage is $30 travel) 
  • JV 1:50 time limit- $65 + same travel 
  • Travel is only paid out once per day for the site so if you work a JV DH it is usually 1 timed and 1 untimed game ($75+$65+$15= $155)
• Rec ball- 
  • 14u (1:45)- $70
  • 12u (1:35)- $55
  • 10u (1:25)- $50

 

We don't have any variance in pay for seniority. 

 

 

[GreyhoundAggie]

Yeah, I've never been paid differently for seniority.

[The Man in Blue]

I've never seen that difference either, but maybe that is something places should consider.

[stl_ump]

Seniority / Experience SHOULD be paid differently.  Why should a 1st year ump get paid the same as a guy who's been around a while and knows what he is doing?

[ErichKeane]

Just now, stl_ump said:

Seniority / Experience SHOULD be paid differently.  Why should a 1st year ump get paid the same as a guy who's been around a while and knows what he is doing?

The danger to that is that you start getting teams hiring umpires by price, or being unwilling to pay extra for the senior umps, leaving the senior umps unpaid.

Unless you can distinctly link umpire quality to pay rate, I suspect one or two bad experiences with a senior ump resulting in teams deciding they aren't worth the cost.

[stl_ump]

11 hours ago, ErichKeane said:

The danger to that is that you start getting teams hiring umpires by price, or being unwilling to pay extra for the senior umps, leaving the senior umps unpaid.

Unless you can distinctly link umpire quality to pay rate, I suspect one or two bad experiences with a senior ump resulting in teams deciding they aren't worth the cost.

Here, teams don't hire the umpires, our association does.

For me, I do games at my association.  They charge teams a set fee to play X amount of games (12?) per season and then the association budgets the umpires for those games.  The lower age Rec level games get a rookie umpire and a senior / training umpire.  The older / upper level travel teams get the experienced, more senior umpires.  You certainly wouldn't want to put a rookie on a travel ball game and the senior umpires typically don't want to do 9 and 10u Rec ball games.  Yes, you will have senior umpires that might be questionable as far as quality, but still better than throwing a 14u rooking in there.

We've found that having the rookies team up with a "training" umpire goes a long way in helping the new guys to learn AND come back the next year.

[ErichKeane]

That sounds like my suggestion to directly link umpire quality and pay, with an extra step. That is basically how my association works as well, though as a newbie I've been thrown at 14u tourneys and 9u rec and everything in between.

Heck, I'm working a top- division 14u game this weekend with a 15 year old base ump... I suspect "availability" is the most valuable ump attribute these days

[cjroman]

LL

9/10-$45

11/12-$50

13-15-$60/$90 single

Travel

9/10-$65

11/12-$65/$80 single

13/14-$70/$110 single

[LMSANS]

On 5/12/2022 at 9:23 PM, ErichKeane said:

That sounds like my suggestion to directly link umpire quality and pay, with an extra step. That is basically how my association works as well, though as a newbie I've been thrown at 14u tourneys and 9u rec and everything in between.

Heck, I'm working a top- division 14u game this weekend with a 15 year old base ump... I suspect "availability" is the most valuable ump attribute these days

This has always been the case. Even when there was an abundance of bodies.