In baseball, fans don\u2019t usually cheer<\/span> the umpires.<\/p>\n The umpires<\/span> are the officials, like the referees<\/span>. And compared with<\/span> other major sports officials, baseball umpires come in for<\/span> some pretty heavy criticism<\/span>. In baseball, it\u2019s generally permitted<\/span> for players and coaches to run onto the field and argue<\/span> about calls<\/span>. Coaches<\/span> are often animated<\/span> in their arguments: they argue to motivate<\/span> their players and the fans. In some famous examples from history, coaches kick dirt<\/span> all over the umpires\u2019 shoes, as fans egg them on<\/a>. When things get out of hand<\/a>, umpires can eject<\/span> a player or coach from the game.<\/p>\n In the stadium, fans are not shy about<\/span> making their opinions known. There isn\u2019t a lot of polite appreciation<\/span> for the work of a baseball umpire. Whenever the spotlight<\/span> is on them, it\u2019s usually not for a good reason.<\/p>\n So it was unusual when the home crowd in Atlanta gave an umpire a standing ovation<\/span> before the game. Unusual, but maybe not surprising. For the umpire\u2019s name was Jen Pawol. And she became the first female umpire in Major League Baseball\u2019s 150-year history.<\/p>\n Baseball has had female broadcasters<\/span>, female data analysts<\/span>, even a female general manager<\/span>. But it has never had a female official on the field\u2014until now. And that\u2019s surprising. Baseball is played every day, and there are over 75 full-time<\/span> umpires at any given time.<\/p>\n Pawol\u2019s promotion was a quirk of the schedule<\/span>. The Atlanta Braves played a doubleheader<\/span> against the Miami Marlins that day: that means they played two games in the same day. And whenever there\u2019s a doubleheader, they borrow<\/span> an additional<\/span> umpire from a lower league<\/span> to help out<\/span> in the second game.<\/p>\n Back in 2023, Pawol became just the second female umpire in AAA\u2014that\u2019s the league just below the top league. So when the major leagues needed an extra umpire to work that doubleheader in Atlanta, they called an umpire from the lower, AAA league. And it was Pawol who got the call. She would be in the big league<\/span> for just a short time, but she would make history.<\/p>\n After the game, she had a small celebration<\/span> with champagne<\/span> in paper Gatorade cups for family and close friends. And soon, she went back to her old job in AAA, calling games in smaller cities like Toledo, St. Paul, Indianapolis, and Des Moines, far from the national media spotlight.<\/p>\n Her debut<\/span> got me thinking: in what other men\u2019s sports have there been female officials? I know, as a<\/a> fan, that the NBA and NFL, America\u2019s basketball and football leagues, have had female officials for a long time. But I wasn\u2019t sure about other sports or about other countries. Here\u2019s what I found.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s do basketball<\/span> first. In 1997, Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner became the first female referees<\/span> in America\u2019s National Basketball Association. The NBA today has 65 men and eight women as full-time referees. The NBA\u2019s \u201cG-League\u201d is a lower league for developing players<\/span>. There, 48 percent of referees are female. And around the world, female basketball referees are common in the men\u2019s game. Germany\u2019s Anne Panther has officiated<\/span> top EuroLeague games. Basketball is popular in Turkey, also. Funda Teoman is a prominent<\/span> female official there.<\/p>\n Now for soccer<\/span>. The 2022 World Cup was a milestone<\/span> year. For the first time ever, women were included among the referees in the men\u2019s World Cup. In fact, the Costa Rica versus Germany game featured<\/span> three female referees\u2014the first time a complete crew<\/span> of female officials worked a men\u2019s World Cup game. <\/p>\n Top country leagues have been opening up<\/span>, too. Germany, France, Italy, England, and Brazil have all had female officials call men\u2019s league games.<\/p>\n It\u2019s perhaps<\/span> not surprising that soccer and basketball have female referees, because both those sports have strong professional women\u2019s leagues, so there\u2019s likely a pool of players<\/span> who develop an interest<\/span> in becoming an official<\/span>.<\/p>\n So what about sports where there aren\u2019t strong women\u2019s leagues?<\/p>\n America\u2019s National Football League welcomed its first female official in 2015, Sarah Thomas. She even worked the Super Bowl, the country\u2019s biggest sporting event<\/span>, in 2021. But there haven\u2019t been many women on NFL officiating crews<\/span>. At any given time<\/span>, there are just one or two female officials on a roster<\/span> of about 120.<\/p>\n The National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey<\/span> league in Canada and the United States. The NHL has never had a female official. There are female officials in the league just below the top league, however.<\/p>\nCricket<\/span> and rugby<\/span> are traditionally male-dominated<\/span> sports. There have been just a handful<\/span> of female officials at the top levels<\/span> of the men\u2019s games in those sports. Japanese baseball has had a woman play in the men\u2019s league\u2014but never umpire in one. In tennis, it\u2019s very common for female chair umpires to work men\u2019s matches<\/span>, even at the highest level.<\/p>\n Female officials can face unique hurdles<\/span> on their way up. They are subject to<\/span> more scrutiny<\/span> than usual. Every close call<\/span>\u2014or incorrect call\u2014might be over-analyzed<\/span> by fans and the media. Internet trolls<\/span> are ruthless<\/span>. Many female officials say they face discrimination<\/span>.<\/p>\n Then there are the logistics<\/span>. Most stadiums don\u2019t have spacious accommodations<\/span> for the officials to begin with. Separate men\u2019s and women\u2019s facilities is a lot to ask<\/span>. Natalie Aspinall, the first woman to serve as a referee in the English Premier League, would show up<\/a> with her uniform<\/span> already on, underneath<\/span> a track suit<\/span>. Over the years, stadiums have gotten more accommodating<\/span> to mixed-gender officiating teams<\/span>.<\/p>\n Considering all the barriers<\/span> female officials have faced entering men\u2019s sports, I got to wondering<\/span>: are male officials likewise<\/a> rare in women\u2019s sports? The answer is no. No, they are not. In fact<\/a>, male referees have long<\/a> been common in women\u2019s leagues and competitions \u2013 mostly without controversy<\/span>.<\/p>\n For example, the WNBA (women\u2019s pro basketball) uses a mixture<\/span> of male and female referees, but historically<\/span> the majority have been men. The same is true in women\u2019s soccer: many top women\u2019s matches, especially at the club level, are officiated by male referees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Umpire Jen Pawol made history as the first woman to officiate a Major League Baseball game in 150 years. Her milestone highlights the growing presence of female officials in men\u2019s sports, from soccer to basketball, and the challenges they face breaking into these roles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":28063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"lesson_category":[150],"lesson_number":[2639],"terminology_tag":[],"content_tag":[],"topics":[2610],"class_list":["post-28061","lessons","type-lessons","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","lesson_category-sports-recreation","lesson_number-2639","topics-sports"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJeff\u2019s take<\/h3>\n