By Jody Jewers, Editor, The Sport Section
Luke Maxwell’s sporting story still has a couple chapters left.
The softball umpire celebrated his 80th birthday in October and was honoured by the Cole Harbour Comets Minor Girls Softball Association at its third annual Scarecrow Slam Halloween tournament. Luke, who resides in Dartmouth, is a Level 3 umpire. He has never been interested in attaining Level 4 or 5 status, which would allow him to officiate nationally and internationally – he prefers staying local.
“The leagues I do, they’re not super serious,” Luke explains. “It’s mostly the minor ball that keeps me going, they’re really nice.”
He then chuckled: “They won’t let me quit. They always say, ‘Lukie, you’ve got to come back. We need you for the next game.’”
Though he said that in jest, it’s not an exaggeration. Many sports are struggling to retain officials, especially at the minor level, and softball is no exception. Maxwell estimates he worked about 100 games this past season.
“We only have 10 or 12 guys in HRM, so sometimes it’s just myself out there,” says Luke.
“And if you’re a younger kid out there, say 14 or 15, and you’re out there by yourself trying to be in charge of two teams with 30 or 40 parents judging every call you make, it can be tough.”
But Luke has persevered through it all. He estimates he’s only ever had to throw two people out of a game during his career. He recalled getting some advice from veteran umpire Bobby Smith, the father of Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame member and former national women’s softball team head coach Mark Smith, about how to handle adversity.
“I always tell our younger umpires, ‘You’ve got to be loud,’” says Luke. “You’ve got to overcome that shyness, because players need to hear you and fans need to hear what you’re calling, so be assertive. Bobby once told me that if someone is arguing with you, you turn around with a smile on your face but don’t say nothing and they’ll leave you alone. And it’s worked.
“You’ve got to love the game, too. I’ve been around it all my life and I still love doing what I’m doing.”
The all-around athlete was inducted into the Truro Sports Heritage Society Hall of Fame in 2016 after distinguished careers in golf, hockey, baseball and softball. As his playing days were winding down, he was asked if he was interested in staying involved in softball as an official.
“The year that I retired from slo-pitch, the umpire assigner came to me and asked if I would be interested in doing some games,” says Luke. “I said I’d try it and he started me in minor ball, ages 9, 10 and 11. That first game, it was about 200 degrees, there was so much confusion and the parents were terrible, so I went back to the assigner and said that this wasn’t for me. But he convinced me to do another one and that was a bit better, so I decided I would stick with it.”
Forty years later, Luke is still sticking with it and there are plenty of people thankful he is.
