MISSOULA — Most high school athletes spend their time playing the game. For Kellen Currie, some days are spent calling it.
The Missoula Big Sky junior has been umpiring since 2021 and has worked his way up to calling 16U and 18U travel ball games. This summer, he will take on American Legion games.
"I've been doing it for a long time, and so I've started to learn the game, and I know what I'm doing. And so they trust me," Currie said.
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His umpiring schedule will overlap with his own playing career. Currie plays for the Missoula Impact Baseball Club during the summer, and he will find himself behind the plate for some of his own teammates' games.
"I'll be umpiring a lot of the (Missoula Mavericks) and a lot of the Impact, which is the other team," Currie said. "I play for the Impact during the summer, as well, so that'll be fun to get to umpire some of my other teammates when I'm not playing."
He expects some ribbing from friends, but Currie said the job requires thick skin.
"I've had some bad games where I'll get booed. It happens," he said. "You kind of just got to block it out and just make the next call."
When he is not umpiring, Currie is competing. He played on Big Sky's JV baseball team this spring and last fall helped the Eagles reach the Class AA state golf tournament. He fired a career-low 67 during the regular season.
"Hitting the next shot is always, like, the best part," said Currie, who has golfed since he was little but only got serious about it during the COVID-19 pandemic. "So being able to just constantly be out there and build myself up and play is a lot of fun."
Off the course and away from the diamond, Currie is an honor roll student and co-editor of Big Sky's student newspaper, the Sun Journal. He has written stories covering school layoffs, therapy dogs and Big Sky athletics.
"I kind of took it as an elective," he said. "And after the first semester of it, I realized this is something I could probably do for a future."
