Jim Kirk

President

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Jim is a successful business leader in the sporting goods industry and is an expert, speaker and author on umpire gear, safety & appearance.

Jim has always had a passion for sports, especially baseball. He is from Harlan, Kentucky where he was named to his high school’s All-Century baseball team by the Harlan Daily Enterprise. He played at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he was 3-time 1st team all-conference and is known to have hit the longest home run ever there (451 feet). 

After college, he worked as a high school umpire and coached 8 years in Little League and 3 years in middle school at Christian Academy of Louisville.

Jim became involved in E-Commerce while working on an MBA in the early 2000s. After starting a small web development firm, Kirk Interactive, he bought Ump-Attire.com in 2006. He grew it to become the largest umpire gear & attire retailer in the U.S. and a “Best Places to Work in Louisville” honor by Business First Magazine in 2020 & 2021.

Jim is active in the sports officiating community, working closely with manufacturers and community organizations. He was named to the board of directors of the Wounded Warrior Umpire Academy in 2020 after serving as a major sponsor since its inception. He also serves as an adviser to UMPS CARE Charities, the charity of MLB umpires. He served 2-terms on their board of directors from 2012-2018 and was named their 2015 Ambassador Award recipient.

Under Jim's leadership, Ump Attire has served for 10 years as the exclusive supplier to Minor League Baseball umpires and their pro umpire school. The retailer was named Wilson Sporting Goods Dealer of the Year in 2018 and a National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) Preferred Vendor in 2018.

The retailer's charity initiatives also include support for Battlefields to Ballfields (active and veteran military to become umpires), Umpires Without Borders (gear and apparel to countries in need) and the American Cancer Society (breast cancer awareness).

In 2020, he launched a campaign to donate 10,000 cloth face masks to U.S. non-profits & hospitals in conjunction Smitty Officials Apparel and NASO. He also conceived and spearheads a female umpire uniform committee to advise on clothing & safety. In addition, he helped advise All-Star Sporting Goods on the development and naming of the COBALT gear line and participated in the first-of-its-kind live stream launch of an umpire protective line on the company's video channel "The Dish". 

Jim is also co-founder and President of the Christy Owens Scholarship Foundation, a yearly scholarship given in memory of a beloved high school classmate. He is a former vocational rehabiliation counselor, has a psychology degree from Centre and a master's degree in counseling from the University of Kentucky.

He resides in Louisville with his wife Lori, a former elementary school teacher. They have 2 children, Lydia & Ben.