(WSB photo: Kayleen Dunson, before Delridge Playfield game in July)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

When the Pan American Women’s Softball Championships start tomorrow in the Dominican Republic, West Seattle will be represented.

Not by a player.

By an umpire!

We’ve introduced you to Kayleen Dunson before. She is in her fifth year as Umpire In Chief for USA Softball in this area (Seattle Metro Softball Umpires Association).

And she is one of two USA umpires chosen to go to the 20-nation championships in Santo Domingo.

Kayleen is a 12-year West Seattle resident, and lives within walking distance of Delridge Playfield, where we talked in the dugout before one of her recent umpire assignments.

This is her first umpiring assignment outside the U.S., but not her first in international competition – she worked the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City a month ago.

(Photo courtesy Kayleen Dunson – shown officiating @ World Cup in June)

“It was kind of a warmup for international play for the teams – the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Philippines, Australia, were all there. It was the first time I got to umpire international teams, and from my work there, two umpires from the U.S. were chosen to go to the Dominican Republic for the Pan American Championships,” which in turn is an Olympics-qualifying event.

She said finding out about her selection was “a huge honor and total surprise to me … I’m just out there having fun.” The regional official who chose her texted her to ask if he could call. “So he calls me and I’m thinking he looked at some of the video (from the World Cup) and he was going to tell me something I did wrong.” He brought up the Pan American Championships “and I thought he was going to ask my permission for someone (else) to go. (He said), ‘So, do you want to go?’ ‘Me?’ ‘Yes, you. You did a great job at the World Cup, you deserve it, you earned it.”

She was so surprised, she started crying. “I didn’t dream it could happen!” And then she got down to practical details, like seeing if she could get time off work.

When we talked, she was still awaiting many details, but knew she had a flight reservation. And that she’d be umpiring games with all-woman fast-pitch teams, though there are men’s fast-pitch teams there too.

The Olympic qualification aspect of it is exciting, too; Kayleen explained that softball and baseball joined forces to put in a bid to get into the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. “That created a lot of excitement in our sport.” At the World Cup, she got to work with two Japanese umpires; she speaks “a little Japanese and a little Spanish,” though being multilingual isn’t required for international competition – “we’re all so well-trained, the signals on the field” tend to say it all, though there are usually translators if needed.

(Kayleen with only all-woman crew @ World Cup – for a game televised on ESPN2 – umpires were from US, Australia, and Japan)

Umpiring is a passion for Kayleen – not just doing the job, but also recruiting others. She’s been an umpire for 12 years, and as Umpire In Chief she supervises about 200 people – “I help train them, and help them find gaes to work, and to get better in their umpiring career … it’s a super-fun job and would be more super-fun if we had another 100 umpires.” There’s a shortage of officials in most, if not all, sports, she adds. “People don’t want to be yelled at? We teach you how not to hear it.”

In West Seattle, she adds, she’s “never had a problem” – with the local leagues, “everything is lovely.”
And yes, it’s paid work, usually per game “depending what level you work.” (She has been an “elite” umpire since 2014, by the way.) “You could work multiple games a night, five nights a week, and it adds up.”

Playing ball has been part of Kayleen’s life as far back as she can remember: “I think my dad put a baseball and football in my tiny little hand before I left the hospital. … I have never not been involved in sports.” In softball, she played and coached slow-pitch, and eventually decided she could be an umpire – “it’s become like my second family; umpires are a good group of people. Sometimes it’s the game after the game, umpires sitting around talking about what happened, one big family, and we look after each other.”

And in the days ahead, she’ll be doing that in the Caribbean, thousands of miles away. It’s her first trip to the Dominican Republic, though she’s traveled extensively otherwise, in Europe and Asia, “but never been south of Florida, and I’m super-excited about it.”

We asked her to let us know how it goes – so we hope to have at least one update along the way!

P.S. More umpires really are needed; she’s made that pitch before and is making it again: “We are always looking for umpires. Flexible schedule, free and excellent training, and the beginning of a lifetime of fun and friendship. Anyone interested can go to www.smsua.org or email me at umpkayleen@outlook.com“