i think 14 is a good age. thats when they start paying more attention to whats going on in my opinion.

Hi Al,
Many years ago what we did is have a umpire clinic at are ball field . Age was 11
on up . These ump's that gave the clinic were good , real good ... Most did all the tournament's and a few even did the little league world series... Just sticking a kid
of 14 years of age in there with no training well IMO is just asking for a disaster to
happen... I have ump for over 20 years now . I started at this clinic ... Since then
I have had 5 other training clinics that I have been at, not to forget to mentioned
State test's for umpiring H/S plus countless hour's of inter-net interaction...
Getting alittle carried away here but all I'm trying to relate is that some training is
needed ...

14 is a fine age, but IMO the more important factor is the child's ability to assert authority over adults in their role as an umpire. Having the required skin thickness has little to do with age.

When we train young umpires, we always have a couple of setup games where parents and coaches are told to be on their worst behavior. The young ump knows this too. They learn to recognize and practice respectful discussions with coaches, and learn to recognize and practice situations where they need to take control. Then when situations arise for real, hopefully it's not like they haven't faced the situation before.

13-14 seems to be about the right age. The key as Lance stated about is the child's ablility. If they are confident and understand their job and have been trained well they shluld have no problem sans the unruly adult.

Should be at least 13 years old. Should always older the players you are umpiring and should have an adult umpire on the field with the youth umpire.

16 is usually the age most rec teams will allow to umpire. Coaches and parents will definitely try to intimidate a young umpire. Rec ball is a good start and if you truly love the game and start young you can move up the ranks to HS when you are 18 and then go from there. The key to becoming good is to always be a student of the game and always read and re-read the rules very often. Once you have the rules in your head then you need to develop good judgment skills. No Ball No Call and when you make the call Sell the Call .
Good luck