Southland Conference joins baseball umpiring consortium

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Sept. 28, 2023) - The Southland Conference has joined with the SEC and four other conferences in an umpiring consortium in the sport of baseball, it was announced Thursday.

The umpiring consortium was established to allow the conferences to collaborate on all matters related to recruitment, education and training, scheduling and evaluation of umpires in the sport of baseball. The Southland Conference joins the SEC, ASUN, Ohio Valley, Southern and Sun Belt Conferences in the consortium.

"We are pleased to welcome the Southland Conference to our umpiring consortium," said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. "I appreciate the assistance of Southland Commissioner Chris Grant in developing this relationship and we look forward to collaborating with all of the conferences in the consortium to continue to enhance our baseball umpiring program."

"We are enthusiastic about our participation in the umpiring consortium for baseball alongside the SEC and four other outstanding conferences," said Southland Conference Commissioner Chris Grant. "I would like to express my gratitude to Commissioner Greg Sankey for his visionary leadership in this regard, and we eagerly anticipate collaborating to elevate the caliber and integrity of umpiring throughout the upcoming 2024 season and beyond."