Behind the plate: Female umpire finds the work challenging
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
As with almost every other role in life, umpiring takes skill. It requires intelligence and a quick wit to make on-the-spot decisions.
Kim Shannon Shields of rural Lincolnville knows all about it. She has been a certified umpire for more than 20 years. She said the skill comes with experience.
Being a female umpire has posed special challenges for her.
"There seems to be a pocket of resistance to women umpires in this area," she said. "I suspect men don't like women knowing the rules better than men do. I have to know twice as much and be able to prove it on the field.
"Sometimes, I can see and feel a male coach's reaction when he sees me, a woman umpire. He expects me to be weak and possibly not know the rules, and he thinks he can manipulate me. I counter that by giving him a firm handshake, looking him straight in the eye, and having an authoritative voice and manner."
The graduate of Emporia State University grew up at Hamlin in northeast Kansas. Her mother died when she was eight years old, and she and her four sisters were raised by their father.
She came to this area in 1983 to student teach at Herington High School. During that time, she lived with her sister and brother-in-law, Susan and Ronnie Carlson of Lincolnville.
In April 1984, at age 25, she married Carroll Shields, a neighboring farmer/stockman.
Being involved in recreational sports provided an outlet for her creative energies and desire to be involved in the community.
When she first came to Lincolnville, she joined a women's fast-pitch softball team coached by Kenny Rindt.
She credits Kenny for getting her into umpiring. They worked as a team. At first, she umpired bases, then learned to umpire home plate. Kenny taught her positioning and the basic rules of the game.
One time, she said, he reprimanded her for not being alert. That shook her up and helped her take her job more seriously.
Kim was involved in coaching fast-pitch softball when she started attending umpire clinics sponsored by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA). This qualified her to become a certified umpire.
"I committed myself to being a good umpire," she said.
She attends clinics every year to maintain her certification. She also is qualified to umpire state and national tournaments.
She umpires high school baseball and softball, as well as all levels of summer leagues.
"You're responsible as an umpire to control somewhat the tempo of the game," she said.
She has authority to eject a coach if the coach mocks her or doesn't respect her decisions. She said she has never had to do that.
She quit coaching for a while, but in the early 1990s she became coach of a 10-and-under girls' softball team. At one game, she saw a bad call and decided then and there to stop coaching and concentrate on umpiring.
She served as president of the Marion County Softball Association for more than 10 years. During that time, she helped get the rules in line with those outlined by ASA. She also informed coaches and teams of yearly changes in the rules and tried to get communities to use certified umpires in league and tournament games.
"I wanted to promote good softball in the area," she said.
She said some towns use anybody as an umpire.
"If they play ball, they think they're naturally an umpire, but that isn't so," she said. "I have an innate sense of justice where I don't think it's fair to just put anybody out there."
Coaches receive a rule book but umpires help them understand the rules and see that they are carried out.
Kim said the main reason she stressed that umpires should be certified is to make sure the rules were interpreted correctly and players understood the rules and could take that understanding any place and have them (the rules) be the same.
"I take a lot of pride in what I do or I wouldn't have done the training," she said.
When she umpires 10-and-under or 12-and-under girls' softball games, she sees part of her job as teaching them the rules. She wants them to be safe.
She said she talks to the catcher a lot, so they both agree on the strike zone and can work together.
"If the pitcher is unhappy with a call and the catcher is on the same page with me, the catcher will agree with my call and do my dirty work for me," she said, laughing.
Kim's husband, Carroll, died in August 2003, from injuries he suffered in a tragic farm accident.
It was a severe blow, but she has adjusted to her new, difficult role as a single mom and continues to umpire whenever called upon.
She has five children. Gavin, 18, graduated this spring from Centre High School. Heath, 16, is a junior, Allison, 13, an eighth grader, Brenna, 9, a fourth grader, and Carissa, 8, a third grader.
Kim is grateful to her mother-in-law, Virginia Shields, for being a "great" grandmother, always willing to take care of Kim's children when she is needed somewhere behind the plate.
