15-year-old Keenan Yaschyshyn received a high honour for his work as an umpire.

The grade 10 student was the recipient of the Softball Manitoba Central Region's Umpire of the Year.

"I was shocked. It's a large area and there's a lot of umpires," he says. "But I've worked really hard for this opportunity and dedicated a lot of time to this, so it's really awesome to get this award."

Chris Yaschyshyn notes his son almost never turns down an opportunity to umpire, even if it's at an hour's notice. He also noted Keenan's confidence. "Sometimes you question the umpire, but he is very confident in his calls which gives a lot of the team managers confidence he's making the right calls."

However, Keenan says it's not always easy. "It's always a challenge. There's quick plays and you have to make a split-second decision... you're not always going to make the right call, but I always try my best."

Chicago Dyck with Softball Manitoba says there are a number of areas they look at for potential award winners, from game control, judgement, rule knowledge and commitment.

"Keenan shows a huge level of commitment to softball umpiring," he says. "He is always asking questions on how he can improve and is always looking towards the next step to advance his umpire career."

He notes this year Keenan made the jump from minor league ball to A-ball. "This is a big step for an umpire. In terms of tournaments Keenan went to Winnipeg to work a U10 provincial and worked the bases for the U16 provincial held in Winkler. Keenan is happy to take constructive criticism and is quick to apply his new found learning to the diamond.

"He is always willing to work with others and brings up those around him," Chicago adds.

Looking ahead, Keenan says his dream is to umpire at the national Softball level, and eventually working in the MLB.

His advice to other aspiring umpires? "Make sure to keep things as consistent as possible, and make sure you're communicating with your fellow umpires so you're understanding what's going on."

In the meantime, he looks forward to keeping at it, "making sure all baseball teams have an umpire so they can play the game."