Vicksburg resident Fulton Carson, one of the most respected umpires in the state, is advancing through the umpire and football referee ranks. He will be calling Southwestern Athletic Conference football games this season. (Chad ApplebaumThe Vicksburg Post)

[8/7/03]Since he began calling games seven years ago, Fulton Carson’s skills as a baseball umpire and football official have steadily improved and allowed him to call bigger and bigger games.

Over the past year, however, they’ve also taken him on a wild ride from the Florida swamps to the football fields of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Carson, a computer scientist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station, graduated from the prestigious Jim Evans Umpire Academy a school for baseball umpires and was selected as a SWAC football official for the coming season.

“It’s everyone’s dream to become a professional umpire,” the 37-year-old Carson said. “If you’re an official, it’s a goal to get to the next level.”

Carson has been progressing up the officiating ladder almost since he began calling games in 1996. He has been selected to work high school all-star and playoff games, SWAC baseball, and the Division III baseball regional at Mississippi College in May.

None of those, though, prepared him for the Evans school.

Run by former major league umpire Jim Evans, the course includes seven weeks of intensive field work, tape review, classroom study and work on mechanics.

Carson was sent to the school by SWAC officiating director Charles McElroy, and found out in a hurry that he had a lot to learn.

“That was the most humbling experience I ever had,” Carson said with a laugh. “I thought I knew a lot about baseball. I realized the first day that I didn’t know as much as I should as an official.”

By the time the course wrapped up with a 200-question exam on the rules of the game, Carson’s skills and knowledge had improved greatly and so had his connections. Along with his diploma from the Evans school, Carson got a slew of high-profile umpiring jobs and job offers.

He was selected to work the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference baseball tournament in Orlando this spring, and the Division III regional. Carson called the regional the highlight of his career so far.

“Doing the Division III regional was exciting, especially getting to do it at Mississippi College,” he said. “I don’t pull for any teams, but getting to do it locally was a highlight for me because my family got to come out and watch me, and all of those guys I work with got to come out and watch me.”

Carson also was offered a spot as a full-time umpire with the independent Central League, but turned it down.

Carson has a young daughter, and the 92-game schedule would have taken him away from home too much, he said.

“When you’re 20, 21, you have that 10-year grace period. But when you’re closer to 40 than 30, it makes a difference,” Carson said. “I think everybody in this game has goals, but I would much rather spend good time with the growing years of my young one.”

The demands of raising a family will probably keep Carson from pursuing an umpiring career beyond the college level, he said. Football may be a different story.

At the same time he began umpiring baseball games, Carson was asked by longtime area referee Carey Grantham to take a shot at football.

Carson did, and was soon officiating high school games.

Five years later, he began calling Division III college games with the American Southwest Conference. This year, he attended a SWAC tryout camp in Houston and was offered a full-time job as a side judge in the Division I-AA conference.

Carson’s nine-game schedule begins Sept. 6 in Lorman, with the Grambling-Alcorn State matchup. The speed of the game will be much faster than anything he’s seen so far, but Grantham thinks Carson will adjust fine and may be destined for bigger games in the future.

“Fulton will do fine in there. He’ll be one of their better ones,” said Grantham, who has been officiating high school football for nearly 40 years. “I’m glad to see him go higher.

“He could be one that could go to the SEC sooner or later, if he continues to work at it.”

Carson smiles when asked about a future in football refereeing. He knows he still has a long way to go, he said, but didn’t rule it out. And this time, he’s not ruling out a career beyond the college ranks.

“As I always tell the kids, I’m working hard on Friday night to work on Saturday, and working hard on Saturday to work on Sunday,” Carson said. “You have to aspire to have goals, and those goals will come because of your mannerisms and your abilities.”