Historic Milestone: Jen Pawol to Umpire MLB Games This Weekend

Jen Pawol is poised to make history this weekend as she becomes the first woman to officiate in Major League Baseball, overseeing games between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.

Scheduled to work the bases during Saturday's doubleheader at Truist Park, Pawol will also take her position behind the plate on Sunday, according to an MLB spokesperson.

A 48-year-old New Jersey native, Pawol honed her skills at Hofstra University, where she played softball. Her journey through the ranks included officiating spring training games in both 2024 and this year.

"Once I started umpiring, I was like, 'this is for me,'" she reflected last year while officiating in the Florida Grapefruit League. "I can't explain it. It's just in my DNA."

Her path to this historic moment began with attendance at MLB's Umpire Camps, a program designed to cultivate new talent among prospective umpires, as noted by MLB spokesperson Mike Teevan.

In 2016, after completing the camps, Pawol became a Minor League umpire. This weekend marks her groundbreaking role as the first female umpire to officiate a regular-season MLB game.

This significant step for MLB comes 28 years after the NBA broke its gender barrier for game officials, a decade after the NFL followed suit, and three years post the men's soccer World Cup's inclusion of a female referee. Notably, the NHL has yet to appoint a woman as a referee.

Pawol's ascent continued in 2024 when she became the first woman to umpire big league spring training games since Ria Cortesio in 2007. Cortesio spent nine years in the minor leagues before her release after the 2007 season.

During her high school years at West Milford High School, Pawol excelled as an all-state player in both softball and soccer. She later attended Hofstra on a softball scholarship, earning accolades as a three-time all-conference selection and representing the USA Baseball women's national team in 2001.

While pursuing a master's degree and living in Binghamton, New York, Pawol took teacher certification classes at Elmira College, all while continuing to play sports. "I wasn't really satisfied," she admitted last year. "Coming off of a huge competitive career, just playing locally, I wasn't getting my fix. And I remember looking at the umpire and being like, I think that's it. I got to go for that."

After officiating NCAA softball from 2010 to 2016, she attended an MLB umpire tryout camp in 2015, which led to an invitation to the Umpire Training Academy in Vero Beach, Florida. Subsequently, she was offered a position in the Gulf Coast League in 2016.

Violet Palmer made history as the NBA's first female referee on October 31, 1997, while Sarah Thomas became the NFL's first woman on-field official during a game on September 13, 2015. In December 2022, Stéphanie Frappart of France officiated a men's World Cup game, and Rebecca Walsh made her mark in England's Premier League on December 23, 2023.

MLB currently employs 76 full-time staff umpires and utilizes fill-ins for vacancies due to injuries or vacations.