Jen Pawol, a 47-year-old former softball player, will be the first woman to umpire a Major League Baseball spring training game in nearly two decades on Saturday—and is poised to become the first-ever woman to umpire a regular season game when the season gets underway this spring.Portland Sea Dogs v. Hartford Yard Goats game of the evening on August 27, 2022.
The New Jersey native is an accomplished athlete herself, having played softball for Hofstra University and the U.S. women’s softball team in 2001, according to MLB.com. She’s also amassed significant umpiring experience, working as a Minor League coach since 2016, when she got her start in the Gulf Coast League, more recently umpiring at the Triple-A level—When Pawol stopped playing, she was working to become a teacher in New York but felt unsatisfied, according to the Associated Press. She was drawn to return to competition through umpiring and spent six years as an NCAA umpire before getting her shot in the minors.