Which Umpire Shin Guards Do Umpire School Students Wear?

Last year, I wrote an article which shared that Wilson Umpire Chest Protectors dominated at The Umpire School (now called the MiLB Umpire Training Academy). In that article, I revealed that an overwhelming majority, 3 out of 4 students, wore a Wilson Gold or Platinum chest protector.

During the 2016 sesssion, I wanted to survey which umpire shin guards students were wearing. In brands, I still found an abundance of Wilson, 50%, but less so. Second most were Diamond styles at 16.5%.

The Wilson Platinum umpire shin guards were by far the favorite choice of umpire school students, preferred almost 3 to 1 over the #2 Wilson Gold shin guard and almost 4x more than any other brand shin guard. 

After Wilson and Diamond, there is a great deal of parity among styles and brands. Here are the percentages:

1. Wilson Platinum: 37%
2. Wilson Gold: 13%
3. Diamond UX and UXS: 10%
4. Diamond DLG-LITE: 5%
5. Force3 Ultimate: 4%
6. Honig's*: 4%
7. All-Star System Seven: 3%
8. Douglas: 3%
9. DavisShins*: 2%
10. Diamond ix3: 1.5%
11. Schutt: 1.5%
12. MacGregor*: 1.5%
13. Pro Nine*: 1.5%
14. SSK: 1.5%
15. Various/unknown/catcher's: 10%

*Off-site links

A few disclaimers

First, I was not able to see one group for their cage work. Therefore, this survey counts for almost 80% of the students.

Second, by serving as official supplier, we provide opportunities for students to purchase umpire shin guards we carry before and during school. Therefore, shin guard products worn by MiLB UTA students are going to be biased to those we carry vs. the 5 above that we do not.