Umpiring business hits home run

Baseball experience not necessary to call balls and strikes

Jacob Kepler/ViewUmpires Robert Bake and Bill Chamberlain look over a roster while working a game at Mission Hills Park in Henderson. The Vegas Valley Umpires runs clinics on both sides of the valley for those interested in officiating. Advertisement

Umpiring is more than a call on a field for Vegas Valley Umpires founder David Ruegge, his partner and wife, Carol Ruegge, and manager Chris Schultz. It's a viable livelihood. And for many of the young people and dyed-in-the-mitt baseball enthusiasts from downtown, Summerlin and Henderson who have taken classroom instruction and clinics then gone on to part-time employment by the company, it can become a way of life.

The Ruegges are known to give umpiring advice such as, "The louder and more self-assured you are when you're making your call, the less likely it is that somebody's gonna argue with you," that could just as easily be taken into the boardroom as it could serve a beleaguered ump on the wrong end of a Little League coach's field rage.

"You have to stand up for yourself," Carol Ruegge said. "Call it how you see it. You can't let anybody sway you."

Baseball experience is not necessary coming in, according to Schultz, who started out as a 14-year-old trainee, working for Vegas Valley Umpires officiating all over the valley. Shultz went on to umpire professionally for Triple-A baseball, on the road four seasons with 142 games a year. Some 12 years, and a lifetime of cross-country travel and baseball games, later, he came back as an instructor running classes in on-field mechanics alongside David Ruegge.

"We've got a nice mixture of people who come to train, from people who work at the airport to high-level casino workers. They just love baseball," Schultz said.

Vegas Valley Umpires runs a roster of as many as 100 to 125 umpires during the busy season, which starts the second week in March through June. For over 16 years, Ruegge's amateur umpire association has supplied umpires for little leagues in the Henderson, North Las Vegas, Summerlin and Boulder City areas, as well as the city of Henderson Parks and Recreation Youth Baseball League. The umpires work as independent contractors and can make their own schedules.

One of the goals of the company, David Ruegge said, is to help youth in the community stay active in sports, while not only earning an income, but also learning excellence, professionalism and fair play.

"You never go out on that field alone," Carol Ruegge said. "You represent the parents, the kids, the game and the teams. You use your best judgment, stick to what you've learned, and you can do the job."

VVU welcomes not only all skill levels, but also all ages, starting from about age 14. Baseball experience is not necessary. Clinics providing classroom instruction and on-field training run four consecutive weeks and culminate with trainees officiating a little league game in partnership with an experienced ump. The most recent session began Jan. 21.

"You're gonna get some of the calls wrong," Carol Ruegge said. "If you call a strike and you get it wrong, it may have been a ball. You can't back down. You have to move past it and get back to the game."

Clinics run on both sides of the valley, with Monday night instruction taking place in Henderson at the Saturn dealership, 310 N. Gibson Road. On Wednesday, night clinics run 6 to 8 p.m. in the Summerlin Trails Park Community Center at 1910 Spring Gate Lane.

For more information, visit www.vegasvalleybaseball. com or call 568-0710.