{"id":74863,"date":"2019-08-23T08:50:23","date_gmt":"2019-08-23T12:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=74863"},"modified":"2019-08-23T08:50:32","modified_gmt":"2019-08-23T12:50:32","slug":"ofa-graduate-umpires-at-world-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/08\/23\/ofa-graduate-umpires-at-world-games\/","title":{"rendered":"OFA graduate umpires at world games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A college softball injury that disrupted play for 2014 Owego Free Academy (OFA) graduate Jillian Silvanic hasn\u2019t stop her from staying in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lifelong love of softball and baseball has opened doors to a new passion for Silvanic, and that is being behind the plate as an umpire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silvanic recently umpired games with the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in Taiwan. She was one of two women umpires at the U12 Baseball World Cup held July 26 through Aug. 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"OFA
Pictured is Tioga County native, Jillian Silvanic.\u00a0Silvanic umpires baseball and softball in the U.S. and internationally.\u00a0Provided photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Taiwan games are not the first time Silvanic has been on the world stage. Last August, Silvanic was one of four umpires who represented the U.S. in the women\u2019s World Cup play in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closer to home, you might catch Silvanic umpiring little league games in Owego. Had she not already been selected for the Taiwan series, Silvanic was geared up to umpire at the little league championship games held in July at Hyde Park in Owego.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"OFA
From left, Juan Licourt Garcia, umpire from Cuba; Jillian Silvanic; Lisa Turbitt, Umpire Director; Eva Moo, umpire from Hong Kong; and Tsai Kuo-Cheng from Taiwan pose for a photo at the U12 Baseball World Cup.\u00a0Silvanic is a Tioga County native. Provided photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Silvanic was a four-year letter winner and an All-Division in her freshman, junior and senior softball seasons at OFA. Named All-Conference in her sophomore year, she racked up more than 25 homers, along with a .441 batting average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While at OFA, Silvanic played three years of basketball, too, and was part of the team that took home victory at the 2012 Sectionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silvanic went on to attend St. Peters University in Jersey City, N.J. where she had a successful first softball season. However, a back injury, followed by surgery, closed the door on her college career at the Division I school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a hard situation,\u201d Silvanic said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, despite the disappointment, she kept a positive attitude. And, not too long after, a new door opened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silvanic summed it up, \u201cThe injury presented different opportunities for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She did go on to complete her college education, and most of it done on-line because of her injury. She acquired her Bachelor\u2019s degree via Hudson Valley and Columbia Southern Universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now in her fourth year of umpiring, Silvanic is involved with the Endicott Umpire\u2019s Chapter, and where she regularly umpires local high school games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silvanic remarked about the local games, \u201cI also enjoy giving back to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about her experiences in Taiwan, Silvanic commented that, at times, she encountered language barriers. Working through those difficulties were made a little easier, she said, because, \u201cBaseball has its own language.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, Silvanic said that the Taiwanese value the game of baseball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She remarked, \u201cYou can say they love it since they built a new $130 million stadium just for these games.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the WBSC website, the Tainan Asia-Pacific International Baseball Stadium and Training Centers was designed for young athletes aged 12 and under and will host the next five U-12 Baseball World Cups through 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since she was in Taiwan for several days, when asked about every-day life there, Silvanic chuckled as she shared, \u201cOne of the main forms of transportation there is the moped,\u201d and added, \u201cWe pulled up to a stop light once where I saw four kids and parents on a single scooter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A former player in the Owego Little League for about six years, Silvanic played until age 12, and then followed up by playing teener league until age 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked what she would say to Little League players today, her response was, \u201cJust have fun with it,\u201d adding, \u201cYou learn so much more about life\u2019s values, about teamwork and hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silvanic continued, \u201cJust keep playing. There are a lot of opportunities that stem from playing sports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although traditionally a male-dominated field until more recent years, it is Silvanic\u2019s hope that more umpiring doors will open as she moves forward. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A college softball injury that disrupted play for 2014 Owego Free Academy (OFA) graduate Jillian Silvanic hasn\u2019t stop her from staying in the game. A…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":74864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nOFA graduate umpires at world games - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2019\/08\/23\/ofa-graduate-umpires-at-world-games\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"OFA graduate umpires at world games - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A college softball injury that disrupted play for 2014 Owego Free Academy (OFA) graduate Jillian Silvanic hasn\u2019t stop her from staying in the game. 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