Local ump travels far to fulfill his dreams
Jim Connors spent a week this summer working at the PanAm Games, umping for USA Women's Softball.
When Jim Connors got a job with Saline Rec fresh out of college in 1994, he probably never gave a second thought to starting a career that would involve international travel.
But, 25 years later, that is what has happened!
This summer, Connors was selected to to attend the PanAm Games in Lima, Peru, as an umpire for the U19 Women's Softball World Cup, where Team USA ended up the champions. It was an unforgettable journey and the culmination of many years of effort and training.
"I received my recreation degree from Western Michigan University," he explains. "My first practicum was teaching umpires, so I had to become one. In 1993 I became certified to officiate at the high school level, primarily softball and baseball."
When he moved to Manchester to work in Saline (as well as a side job with his uncle, Dave Kirk's, excavating business), he met Marilyn Knouase who introduced him to then-athletic director John Eisley at Manchester High School. And so it began.
"I started officiating girls' basketball and volleyball, and some club sports, and it took off from there," he said.
Born in the Upper Peninsula, Connors grew up in Jackson where his dad was a state trooper. They then moved to Sandusky, Michigan. He graduated from high school in Sandusky and went on to Western Michigan University to get his degree in recreation with a business minor.
Becoming an umpire or referee may not have been his first idea, but it soon became a fun sideline for him. And then, it started getting serious. As he received more training and higher level certifications, he started moving up the ranks and was doing officiating for Division 1 and NCAA sports. He got certification to officiate at tournaments for the Junior Olympics and more. He currently does about 20-25 event assignments per year at varying levels.
Certification is a complex process, especially on the national and international stages. There is SafeSport training, which provides courses aimed at creating safe and respectful sport environments for all athletes. Plus, each time the rule books are updated, all officials must re-certify. The last recertification was in 2015, so Jim knows that it won't be too long before they will update again and he'll need to be ready.
"The certification is timed, and online," he explained. "And if you don't pass the first time, you have to wait until the next month to try again. That really makes a difference whether you're able to be nominated for specific assignments." Officials are also evaluated for their performance after every event. Having excellent evaluations, as he does, helps Jim to get more nominations and appointments for the elite games.
Being certified at a high level for the Women's Baseball/Softball Congress (WSBC) makes Jim part of a rather exclusive group of officials who could be nominated to umpire for USA Women's Softball games. He got a "warm up" opportunity earlier in the year at an event held in Columbus, Georgia, site of the 1996 Olympics ... where he said the competition was actually stronger than it was in August in the PanAm games. But the World Cup was obviously the ultimate prize. And being able to officiate at the USA/Canada game was definitely a highlight of the games for him.
"Lima was very quiet and very dirty," he said. "Most of what surrounded the immense site of the games, was pretty much like a third-world country. Our buses had police escorts; we had armed guards in the evenings; and the games were scheduled to be done before dark. Security was very tight at the stadium." But that didn't diminish the excitement and fun of being in a foreign country.
Jim also did a little traveling with a friend when the World Cup games were over, to Machu Picchu and other sites around Peru. He loves hiking and found out just how different it is at extremely high altitudes!
And although he was at a distinct disadvantage with the language barrier, ("My Spanish is pretty much limited to 'cerveza' and my 'buenos noches' sounded more like 'bonos nachos',") he said that using the universal signals of officiating and with a little help from friends who could translate, he made out fine. "And really, rooming with people who were not English speaking was kind of neat," he says.
He was proud to be nominated and eventually appointed to actually represent his country as a technical team member of Team USA. He says his goal is to be able to travel outside the US again, for another trip to officiate at an international event.
"Being an umpire has brought me opportunities that I never dreamed of," he says. "It was really an honor and a highlight to be able to do this and I would love to do a Men's World Cup."
Who knows? Stranger things have happened. Stay tuned for the next chapter of Jim Connors' story.
The Gold Game Crew with Umpire in Chief. Jim Connors is pictured at far left.
Site of the PanAm Games in Lima, Peru.
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