Baseball FAQs

If you are reading this, you are considering becoming a professional umpire. Congratulations!

You are on your way to joining one of the most rewarding pursuits anywhere. Many of our officials are former athletes who played baseball when they were younger and want to keep up with the game. It’s a great way to give back. Officials are a close-knit fraternity of sorts. Being an umpire allows you to not only work with people who have a common interest, but you will also make some extra money along the way. It’s a great way to stay close to the sport you love and the people who keep it going.

You’ve found the website of the Eastern Officials Association. Our association is the go-to organization for officials in multiple sports, and with organizations at multiple levels in Virginia and North Carolina. Our officials work with community leagues, high schools, and colleges in the region.

Who is EOA?

The Eastern Officials Association is a non-profit organization representing professional umpires, referees, and officials for baseball, softball, volleyball, football, swimming and diving. We provide training, monitor the efficiency and professionalism of our officials, and we are organized to provide work for our members. Our Executive Board represents the interests of our members and serves the group regionally.

Our officials work with Hampton Roads community leagues, Virginia high schools (VHSL), and local NCAA colleges.   We also work games and tournaments on the Eastern Shore, in Western Tidewater, and in Northeastern North Carolina.

You can read the EOA Constitution as well as the Policies and Procedures by clicking the links provided.

How do I hire EVOA umpires for my baseball tournament or league?

To hire certified baseball umpires for your upcoming league, tournament, or scholastic season, you can coordinate booking directly through the Eastern Officials Association (EOA) management team.

As a single point of contact for over 400 private sports contractors in Eastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina, we simplify the scheduling process by matching certified, background-checked crews to your specific game rulesets (including NCAA, VHSL, Little League, PONY, and USSSA).

To request an officiating crew and establish a booking agreement for your organization:

  1. Submit a Request: Navigate to our Contact Us page and provide details about your event date, location, and age division.

  2. Contact the Commissioner: For immediate booking inquiries, large-scale travel tournaments, or scheduling contracts, you can email our Baseball Commissioner, Jesse West, directly via the contact link on our Baseball page.

First and foremost, you can expect to have fun and make great relationships. Secondly, we will do our part to make sure you are properly trained and learn baseball from a perspective you only THOUGHT you knew. Finally, you can expect to be paid well for your efforts. EOA offers officiating opportunities and/or training for every sport we represent virtually year-round. When training, we also provide comprehensive evaluation so that you know where you’re doing well and where you can improve. We work on the finer points, mechanics of officiating, and of course, knowledge of the sport. We want you to be the best official you can be, because we all together represent a fantastic organization.

You’ll also need to be able to communicate using email and the internet. Our assignments are posted online and much of our communication is through email. You’ll have to check for assignments regularly, keep up with evaluations, and communicate often.

We provide comprehensive sports officiating across Eastern Virginia (Hampton Roads) and Northeastern North Carolina. Our active coverage areas include:

  • Southside Hampton Roads: Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Franklin, Isle of Wight County, and Southampton County.

  • The Peninsula & Eastern Shore: Hampton, Newport News, Northampton County, Accomack County, Poquoson, Williamsburg, York County, James City County, and New Kent County.

  • North Carolina: Surrounding counties throughout Northeastern NC including Currituck County, Gates County, Camden County, Perquimans County, Hertford County, Dare County, and Elizabeth City.

EVOA umpires are certified to officiate baseball at all skill levels throughout Eastern Virginia. New umpires typically start in youth and travel ball programs like Little League, PONY, and AAU. Based on experience and performance evaluations, umpires can quickly advance to NFHS (VHSL) high school games, NJCAA, and NCAA collegiate matchups.

If you’re still reading, you’re obviously intrigued with the opportunity to become an umpire with the Eastern Officials Association. You can dive right in and enjoy it. Just like when you learned the sport you love, you didn’t know it all and couldn’t do it all on the first day. We’ll take your understanding of the sport and teach you the rest. Get started by filling out the registration form. You can get to that by clicking on the link below. From there, you’ll be contacted by our training director and you will receive an email with a link to arbitersports.com. This will officially get you into our system and all ow you to receive more information about our organization. Members of the Development Committee will be your primary point of contact to start. If you have any other questions, you can email us directly.

EOA baseball