Long-time New Hampshire umpire honored by NHIAA
CONCORD, N.H. (BVM) — Donna Martineau has called the softball diamond home ever since her first experience as an umpire in 1974. Now she continues with that passion as she officiates games for both softball and volleyball. Martineau also teaches math and computer sciences to sixth through eighth graders for the Paul School in Sanbornville where she is retiring after her 36th and final year.
Nearly five decades ago Martineau got into umpiring when she was at her brother’s little league game and the crew was down an ump. Martineau volunteered to help and was able to jump start her passion in the craft.
Martineau attended the University of New Hampshire in 1977, where she continued her passion for sports by playing on the women’s ice hockey team. At UNH, Martineau decided to hone in on her umpiring craft as well. She began to umpire both baseball and softball games before transferring to Plymouth State in 1981 where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music education.
Baseball may have been her start, but over time Martineau learned that she wasn’t going to get the same opportunities in the sport as male umpires. She switched over to umpiring softball games because it allowed her to do more. Compared to getting a handful of games in baseball, Martineau learned that she was able to umpire at a more regular schedule in softball. Martineau has specific instances where she faced this issue with her future husband, Ray Martineau, where they recalled times she was treated differently than men. Ray, who was also an umpire, later passed away in 2007 from leukemia.
Martineau was recently inducted into the NHIAA Hall of Fame Class of 2019 for her contributions as an official for the past 42 years. Martineau believes she’s umpired upwards of 1,000 games since her first opportunity. She was elected along with six others under the categories of athlete, coach and contributor.
Martineau is known as one of the founders of the New Hampshire Softball Umpires Association (NHSUA) according to Peter Perich, Supervisor of Officials for the NHSUA. Shortly after joining the NHSUA in 1978, Martineau was rated as one of the top officials in the state.
Despite retiring from her work as a teacher at the Paul School this year, Martineau will still try to officiate more games in the future.
