Umpire Profile
David Maher – NVBUA President
By Gary Reals
Fellow umpires, when our newly elected Association President began his noble life-adventure four decades ago, he recalls “no one started with less experience than I did.” Now you might be tempted to interject that most of us began as beginners, and of course you’d be right. But wait a moment, please. Dave Maher literally did not know how to get properly dressed way back then. The forlorn young fellow wore his shin guards outside his pants. And he’s still bemused recalling how his plate shoes in those earliest of games were rather odd and awkward due to that clumsy protective tongue “flapping all over the place!”
Well, let us all recognize and celebrate Dave Maher’s splendid life journey that has borne much fruit. And, trust me, Dave is far from over. Our new NVBUA President is perched, poised and ready to pounce. Blues, change is a-coming!
Dave has identified two crucial areas that he and fellow Board members are committed to bulk up and improve as their first order of business at the outset of 2025: communications and training. More on both shortly.
The Early Years
But let’s take a moment to review all of what Dave Maher experienced even before he learned how to dress properly. His pathway to umpiring was a familiar one: in the late 1970’s, his father and brother were both Little League coaches and umpires in Arlington. Into the 80’s there arose a greater need in Arlington LL for coaches rather than umpires. And so early on Dave found himself coaching more and umping less. Eventually however nature took hold and the young fellow came to believe that he “wasn‘t so good at coaching” and turned to umping on a more frequent basis. Through the mid-80’s, Dave umped and coached intermittently in both Arlington and McLean, mixing it in with work and all those other pursuits of a young adult.
Getting Serious
After drifting around some of the local baseball diamonds rather aimlessly through the 1980’s, Dave finally hit his pivot point! In 1991, he got the name of one John Porter who was then leading umpire training out at Fairfax High School. In short order, Maher undertook the umpire challenge far more seriously. Right out of the gate, he learned how to dress! But that’s not all, Blues. “I started and I liked it,” he recalls wistfully.
Still a Rush!
In short order John Porter had Maher working high school j.v. games quite competently. Varsity baseball quickly followed. As his skill set continued to expand, playoffs followed. Regional and statewide finals were added to his seasonal mix. As the years quickly passed, Dave found himself getting “high…on adrenaline!” And pardon him, but he still is.
Forty or so years and countless games at all levels later, Dave Maher declares simply, “it’s still a rush!” Listen to him: “….when I’m doing the plate, all the eyes are on me. I like that.” He especially likes high school varsity games at Madison and Lake Braddock, which not so coincidentally have been home to a few shall we say picky and pushy coaches 😊 “I want action. I want tension that comes with umping, when every pitch counts,” Maher proclaims.
Flowing from all those testy time-outs at Lake Braddock and Vienna, as well as other fields, Maher has mastered the art and science of dealing with those gnarly coaches who either know, or think they know, when a bad call may have been made. Catch this, and let it marinate, if you will: Maher explains, “you gotta be approachably unapproachable.” Genius!
Work and Play
While all of those officiating pursuits were sprouting in his life, Dave found it necessary to hold down a real job too. It wasn’t until late 2023, that Mr. Maher retired from his position as Program Manager at U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Over the course of two decades, he travelled many times to the southern border. “I saw stuff you wouldn’t want to talk about,” he rues. The very hardest part of the job was witnessing up close and all too personally, the smuggling of human beings, “real people being hurt, or worse, down there,” he recalls.
Dave Maher is very proud to have developed new technology that cut in half the waiting time for would-be immigrants to obtain vitally needed medicine, as well as decisions on their entry status.
If you’re thinking that between a career of U.S. border protection and working a full plate of sports officiating, Dave was relatively content, please know contentment is a trait that may not exist in his being.
More – Much More!
Let’s return to those early years in the 1980’s. While flitting around a tad aimlessly, coaching baseball and flipping burgers at the local McDonalds on Columbia Pike, a still quite young Dave Maher pursued another athletic passion: basketball. He learned of a shortage of basketball coaches in the local rec league. Conveniently for him, basketball offered little or no interference with baseball. Another ingredient in his recipe: Dave loved basketball too!
So now we have a basketball coach scooping fries in a business where the largest group of patrons were tons of after-school teenagers. Voila! Dave became familiar with one kid in particular and one day posed the question: “….you wanna play?” Play he did. Under Coach Maher’s tutelage, that teenager rapidly became the best player in the league!
Word of the young coach’s prowess began to spread and soon Maher moved over to Bishop O’Connell HS, where he helped coach basketball teams for several years. Fast forward to 2025, and he is still coaching travel league basketball. Why? Because he enjoys it.
And then there’s the ball that’s larger than a baseball and smaller than a basketball. It was the early 2000’s when MAC got its first volleyball contract. Dave Maher couldn’t resist officiating those games for several years. He gave it up for a while, but he missed it and returned to volleyball around 2019. This naturally-born mentor is still enjoying that too.
With all of that in tow, Dave Maher has had little time for much of anything else. A life-long bachelor, he stays in touch with two brothers, one local and one in New Hampshire. And he greatly enjoys an occasional trip to the Outer Banks to visit his sister and her family.
Enter 2025 & Change
And now, of course, Dave Maher has a new gig and intends to bring his genius to all of us. Along with the assistance of his fellow Board members, the first group memo to the NVBUA membership was sent out December, 2024. They pledge, “Please do not hesitate to reach out to any one of us with your thoughts, questions or concerns. I will be in regular contact with you through the coming season with developments and announcements as they happen.” Hallelujah!
The first wave of change is expected to focus primarily on communications and training. Dave is aware that too many, primarily new umpires, have not been consistently receiving NVBUA emails regarding events, training and various other opportunities. He hopes to address that with new technology to ensure all members receive pertinent emails keeping them abreast of association events.
One simple remedy, he says, is advanced scheduling of meetings and events. Get ready for this, Blues: the 2025 end-of-the-year banquet: perhaps on a Saturday night; at a really nice location. Living large!
Also, this revival of the Blue Crew News is intended to, and hopefully will, spread the news of the day, and other information our umpires need to be kept informed. Robert Fobian will serve as the new Editor in Chief and as we all know, Robert very much likes to pilot a tight ship.
There’s going to be renewed emphasis on training. Once again, especially new umpires will be kept in the loop regarding all training opportunities, both rules and mechanics. Not just to be kept informed, but also be encouraged to attend.
The MEDIC program, or some semblance thereof, may soon be rejuvenated. New umpires who show promise of a steady advance in skills will receive special attention/shepherding to help them progress briskly. More on that likely to follow in early 2025.
Enjoy the Gig!
Dave Maher urges all umpires, old and new, to “make sure you understand what you want.” Be goal-oriented, because as Dave says, “if you don’t know what you wanna be, how can you ever achieve it?” At the same time, he cautions, “have a goal, for sure, but also be realistic.”
One final nugget from our new leader who is determined that his new position off the field doesn’t interfere too much with his time on the field.
Dave Maher insists, “I enjoy every game I do.” May we all strive to embrace that “Maher Ethic.” Enjoy every game! Really! Well okay, maybe not every single game, Dave. How about all but one game a year will be wonderful!
Table of Contents
Issue #1 – January 20, 2025
Letters to the editors welcome at [email protected]