Jen Pawol will become 1st MLB female umpire this weekend
FILE-Umpire Jen Pawol #95 tosses the ball during the second inning of a spring training game between the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 1, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images
History is happening on the baseball diamond with Jen Pawol set to become the first woman to umpire in Major League Baseball when she works games between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves.
Pawol, 48, will serve as umpire for Saturday’s doubleheader at Truist Park and the plate on Sunday, MLB told the Associated Press.
RELATED: Spring training 2024: Female umpire Jen Pawol makes big league debut
The New Jersey native worked spring training games in 2024 and this year. Pawol’s spring training debut last year was the first time a woman worked as an umpire for big league spring training games since Ria Cortesio in 2007, the AP noted.
Who is Jen Pawol?
The backstory:
Jen Pawol was an all-state softball and soccer player in New Jersey for three years in each sport at West Milford High School. The Associated Press reported that she attended Hofstra on a softball scholarship and became a three-time all-conference pick and was on the USA Baseball women’s national baseball team in 2001.
She also received a master’s degree while working towards a teacher certification at Elmira College while still playing baseball on the side.
Pawol later worked as an umpire for NCAA softball games from 2010-16 and also attended an MLB umpire tryout camp in 2015, and was offered a job in the Gulf Coast League in 2016.
Have women worked as referees in other sports?
Big picture view:
In the NBA, Violet Palmer became the league’s first woman referee when she worked in the Dallas Mavericks opener at Vancouver on Oct. 31, 1997. And in 2015, Sarah Thomas was the NFL’s first woman on-field official when she served as line judge for Kansas City’s game at Houston on Sept. 13, 2015.
The Associated Press noted that Stéphanie Frappart of France became the first woman to referee a men’s World Cup game when she worked Germany’s 4-2 group stage win over Costa Rica on Dec. 1, 2022, and Rebecca Walsh became the first to referee in England’s Premier League when she officiated Burnley’s 2-0 win at Fulham on Dec. 23, 2023.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by previous LIVENOW from FOX reporting and the Associated Press. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.