Sherman Wallen was one of the umpires at the recent Bank of Queensland National Little League Championships on the Gold Coast. A Boston USA native, he traveled to Queensland to be a part of a national tournament in Australia.
Currently the head umpire of Little League Baseball in Boston, Massachusetts he has been officiating baseball for fifteen plus years.
Sherman explained how he first became involved in being a baseball umpire; “I started the same way as everybody else who is a Little League umpire. They asked if anyone in the stands could do it and they said to me ‘wait a minute you know how to be an ice hockey referee so you must know how to be an umpire!’” and that is exactly how the majority of major league umpires get started”.
Sherman, a native of Massachusetts and an avid Red Sox Fan assures us that Australian baseball is on par with many other regions of the world, where the game is more prevalent and popular.
“Your baseball is as good as anywhere in the world and your coaches and parents are just wonderful. I have been to tournaments all over the world, in Latin America, Canada and Europe and your baseball is definitely on the same level”
When asked exactly what is his favourite part of Little League Baseball, Sherman gave a response that can truly resonate with many fans, young and old.
“I enjoy little league because I’m helping the children, the whole point of youth baseball, and sports in general, is to teach children confidence and teamwork so they learn how to deal with successes and failures. Volunteering for little league I get to give back to the community, and that’s my favourite thing.”
In addition to officiating Sherman has completed some international to do’s while in Australia.
“As soon as I got to Australia the first thing I did was run to the bathroom sink, filled it up and watched the water go down the other way. With that checked off of my to do list, the next thing I had to do was have a Vegemite Sandwich”
When asked what he thought about vegemite he replied, “I’m glad that is over with and I’m not sure I ever want to experience that again”.
Events like the National Little League Championships require the hard work and dedication of numerous people, including umpires like Sherman, who also hopes to one day have the opportunity to umpire a game at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
For more information about being an umpire visit baseball.com.au and for more information about Little League visit littleleague.org.au.
