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© 2012 Oregon Lacrosse |
Women's Umpires
Our local organization was started in response to the growing popularity of women’s lacrosse in the Portland area and the Northwest.
The Portland Women’s Club team was in place in the late 1980’s but at that time, one of the players would volunteer or be coerced to referee.
At that time, training for umpires was provided by the US Women’s Lacrosse Association, however there was no official local umpire’s association.
Some of the local high schools started teams about 10 years ago but the demand for umpires was taken care of by the few certified umpires. However,
most of these umpires also served as coaches for the high school teams and there was the potential for conflicting opinions regarding the intent of calls. There was actually only one local unassociated umpire for the area, Carol Harley.
As the number of teams grew, the need for umpires grew. To meet this demand, about 8-years ago it was required that high school teams provide two
volunteers to be trained as umpires. This is actually where several of our returning referees started. However, there was still a need for
unassociated umpires. During this early period, Carol provided support for this growth, and based on her efforts an award, the Carol Hartley
Service Award, was eventually created.
The return of Dorothy Hirsch, a Nationally rated umpire, to the Portland area for the 2002 season marked the official beginning of the Oregon
Women’s Lacrosse Umpires Association. Dorothy provided the organizational skills, knowledge of the game, and experience to set the course for
our association as it is today.
We now advertise and network to find candidates that are interested in participating in this fine sport. Except for areas outside the greater
Portland area, we no longer specifically recruit at team level although we welcome those parents that are committed to supporting this activity.
We are a non-profit organization and now fall under the governance and guidelines of US Lacrosse, which is a national governing body for women’s
and men’s lacrosse. It is required by US Lacrosse that all new and returning umpires attend a yearly clinic, such at this, as part of the
requirements for umpiring.
We primarily provide umpires for women’s high school varsity and junior varsity games and middle schools (youth) games in Oregon.
Our higher rated umpires also umpire collegiate and post collegiate level games. |