Mathys makes incredible progress as ump

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This article was published 10/08/2023 (872 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Damien Mathys is apparently a quick learner.

The 16-year-old from Treesbank, which is located north of Wawanesa and about 50 kilometres southeast of Brandon, is working his first Softball Canada event this week as the Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex hosts the under-15 girls national championship.

Incredibly, Mathys began umping last summer and quickly made his provincial debut, working at the U13 A, AA and AAA provincials.

“Some of the guys have told me it’s very young and I agree,” Mathys said. “I feel stressed thinking about it but I’ve been chosen and they feel I’m ready. I feel confident. I feel ready to do it.”

Bruce Luebke, who has been umpiring for 20 years and has served as the regional umpire-in-chief for more than a decade, is the co-host of the national championship. He views Mathys’s age differently.

“When I look at Damien, I don’t talk about or see he’s only in his second year of umpiring,” Luebke said. “I’m looking at what he’s doing on the field, off the field, effort, attitude, maturity. Those are all off the chart for him. He’s earned this opportunity with the time and effort he’s put in. I couldn’t be prouder of him.”

The high school basketball and volleyball player, who also raced in downhill skiing and played baseball when he was younger, found his way into umpiring to stay in the game.

There was also some family history behind the plate since his grandpa Kelly Doka umped.

“I quit baseball for a little bit because of COVID and I figured I still wanted to be in the setting of baseball,” Mathys said. “My grandpa umpired before and I figured I might as well try it as well. I guess that’s how it went.”

Luebke and the local umpires association have placed a strong emphasis on the mentorship of young game officials, and it paid off in Mathys, who took the clinic last summer. But even Luebke was taken aback by how quickly Mathys progressed.

“I really just thought he was going to umpire in his home community and maybe a little bit around there and just get his feet wet,” Luebke said. “But every opportunity that we gave him to come to Brandon to work games, he took advantage of. Give a lot of credit to his parents for giving him opportunities to come to Brandon and work with us and let us see him work and give him tips and just work with him.”

Luebke said one story tells a lot about the teenager’s character.

Local officials donate their used gear to the local umpire association when they upgrade, and it’s put into a stockpile, along with four new sets they bought.

When local umpires got their first good look at him during provincials a year ago, he was wearing a hodgepodge of borrowed equipment from the Wawanesa baseball association. Mathys was invited to take a look at the association’s used gear and try it on, so he outfitted himself and was charged only $40 for everything.

“This year, he made the investment in buying some stuff himself, which shows again the commitment has to being an umpire, and he donated that stuff back,” Luebke said.

Mathys in turn, has appreciated what the Brandon umpires have done for him. He’s especially grateful to Luebke.

“Brandon has been very supportive for sure for everything I’ve done,” Mathys said. “I probably wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t for Bruce. He’s the one who took me under his wing and gave me everything that I needed to get my career going.

“I wouldn’t be doing as much as I could be without him.”

Mathys admits it’s definitely a stressful job at times, noting some games are worse than others. When he makes a split-second call he isn’t sure about, he reflects on it in an attempt to get better.

“Every call has its own meaning,” Mathys said. “There are some calls that matter more in a game and there are some calls that matter a little bit less but whenever I make a call, I look back on it and think what I could have done better and correct myself from then on and be a little bit more consistent and focus a little more.”

That’s exactly what Luebke appreciates about Mathys. The youngster works hard, thinks about the game and wants to get better.

“He will take the advice you give him and implement it into his game almost immediately,” Luebke said. “He asks a lot of questions and got to the point last year where he worked the U13 provincials here. Mitch Zuk was the umpire supervisor — he’s one of the best instructor-evaluators in Canada — and he really took to heart everything that Mitch told him.

“He had some goals this year to do more.”

Luebke doubts the Canadian championship was on the teenager’s mind at the start of the season, but he attended the tri-annual Blue Crew convention in Winnipeg and learned a lot. Mathys implemented that into his game, worked every time he could and at the Manitoba Premier Softball League tournament in June, he was re-assessed.

“We really liked what we saw there and offered him the opportunity to work at Canadians at that point,” Luebke said. “I can tell you that even from that point on, he’s worked hard to improve himself to get ready for this.”

He’s even travelled to games in Winnipeg with umpire liaison Brad DeGraeve, fellow nationals umpire Akayla Veysey and Luebke, and earned everything he’s been given.

“I felt he had a fantastic weekend at U15 provincials,” Luebke said. “I can’t wait to see what he does at this Canadian championship. I love the kid. I’m just looking at it from my standpoint as a supervisor-evaluator. One of the best things you can on your crew is people who take advantage of the feedback given and make themselves better and he is so good at that.

“I think the supervisors at this Canadians are just going to love him.”

For his part, Mathys is excited to soak in a new experience.

“I feel like the stress will get to me by the end of it but I feel like for the most part I’m going to have lots of fun meeting some of the new crew-mates from outside the province,” Mathys said. “It will definitely be a great experience for me. And meeting some of the teams too.

“I know that teams outside the province have a great calibre of skill and I’m very intrigued to see the different teams and their level of play.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson