YORKTON - A pair of seniors have been standing behind the home plate of baseball, fastball, and softball games in the Yorkton area for a combined 50 years, with no signs of calling it quits just yet.
One of those umpires is Orville Holland, who was originally born in Whitebeech and moved to Yorkton back in 1981.
He said he started umping after his son moved to play senior baseball and stuck with it to continue being involved with the game.
"I started out as a coach when my son played baseball, and it just kept going from there. When he went to the senior age, I started umping," he said. "I started taking my umpire course, more for my own knowledge of the rules of the game, and it just kept going from there."
It's been 20 plus years for Holland behind the plate, and one of his favourite moments is getting a chance to umpire a game with his son.
"I've done pretty much every level in the baseball system. The only game that really comes to mind, and I umped the bases, was my son was 14 when we did the major league here, and he umpired the plate, which is quite the feat for somebody who is only 14-years-old. I look like it, and as a young umpire, he did a really good job."
Now that Holland has hit 72, he has thought about hanging up the gear, but he said depending on his heath, he knows he has at least one more year in him.
"I've thought about it the last four or five years and keep getting asked to do it again. This year I cut back. I didn't do any baseball, it's just getting too hard. I've some health issues, so it's a little bit more than I can handle sometimes."
The other umpire is Garry Jopko, who has been calling games for the last 30 years.
Jopko, who is originally from the Lower Mainland in British Columbia, moved to Rhein in 1984. Seven years later, he would ump his first game. A slow-pitch game at York Lake.
He said that he got into umping as a way to stay involved in the game.
As for a highlight from his three decades, he looks back at umping a major tournament.
"The highlight for me and my aspirations was doing the two the fastball Canadian Championships. I enjoyed those very much; You get to umpire with other people from other parts of the province, you learn, you get to umpire teams from around the province."
Jopko said overall, it's been a long and satisfying career and that he has no plans on calling it quits.
"I'll keep going until my body says 'it's time to hang up the counter.'"
As for the future of umping, Holland said that he encourages people who enjoy the game to get involved with umping as there is a huge shortage.
"You have to just want to do it. Being involved with the sport itself, understanding it. A lot of kids that play the game will continue on with something, one way or another. It's just a way to stay involved, and it helps promote the sport."
Jopko said that you have to enjoy the game to be a good umpire.
"It is not the easier job in the world; you will have fans on you, you will have coaches on you, and you sometimes get backtalk from the players themselves. To be an umpire, one has to develop a thick skin."
He said in terms of getting more umpires; he encourages people who enjoy the game or are former players to give umping a shot by attending clinics or just volunteering to be an ump.
