In a 25-year career of officiating Little League, college and high school baseball and softball, Rickey Geiggar has been honored with many high-profile assignments including the high school All-Star games and state championship finals.
Geiggar now has a statewide award to add to his resume — Baseball Official of the Year.
The National Federation of State High School Associations awarded the 58-year-old from Pine Bluff the prestigious honor for the 2023-24 athletic season.
“I’ll keep doing it until the fun is taken out,” Geiggar said. “I’m still having fun umpiring.”
Gary Lucas, the awards committee representative for District 8 of the Arkansas Officials Association, nominated Geiggar for the honor, adding he’s known Geiggar for a while and thought he would be a good honoree for the district.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“What went into the process, I really can’t tell you,” Lucas said. “The Arkansas Activities Association (the state’s governing body for high school athletics) gave us a list to nominate people, and that’s what I did, and he was selected. I thought Rickey deserved it, and they picked a great guy.”
Geiggar also referees football and basketball and trains new officials. He’s noticed it’s been harder for many new officials to stay due to the changing landscape of fanfare.
“It’s changed because of the attitude toward the umpires,” he said. “The younger guys are not as thick-skinned as before. After they encounter confrontations with bad behavior, they won’t stay in it.”
But Geiggar has been a mainstay in the local high school sporting arena.
“He’s always been in it for the kids,” Jeff Gross, director of baseball operations at Taylor Field, said. “He’s always done an outstanding job. He has control of the game. I wish we had more umpires like him. I’m very happy for him to receive this award.”