VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Chicago native Jillian Sopko works in the baseball grandstands on the South Side of the Second City, but the 24-year-old wants to take a big step and land somewhere else.
On the baseball diamond.
Currently employed by the White Sox, Sopko was one of 50 candidates in the MLB Umpire Prospect Development Camp held in January at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex, the iconic former spring home of the Dodgers but now a centerpiece for initiatives set forth by MLB.
A North Sider by birth but a South Sider at heart and in employment, Sopko works on Chicago’s Pride Crew -- a spirit team that performs in-game activities such as throwing out T-shirts and firing up the crowd to ensure a fun experience.
“This has been amazing,” said Sopko, who will begin her fourth season with the American League club. “The amount of baseball I have learned, just within two weeks, just being able to understand the rules now and being able to say, ‘Oh, now I understand why the play was called like that.’”
Always in play at camp is the rule book, baseball’s sacred document, often well-worn and marked up with penned notations but always within arm’s reach and referred to by umpires, official scorers and coaches at ballparks around the world.
“We’re still going through the rule book, step by step, and learning to understand every single part of the rules,” Sopko said.
But there’s more than just book learning taking place.
On Wednesday, the future umpires were calling balls and strikes in the 42 building in the batting cages. They then watched replays on iPads to see if their calls were correct.
At Holman Stadium, the famed facility’s centerpiece, select candidates were working fantasy camp games, positioning themselves on the field and advancing the game as needed.
The candidates came from six tryout camps around the country. MLB pays their full expenses during the four-week experience of learning how to run a game as an umpire, interpret the rules and keep the calm and order that baseball demands.
The camp features candidates from the Dominican Republic, Canada and Venezuela.
“It’s free -- they don’t pay anything to come -- and the one-day camp and these [month-long camps] are free,” said Rich Rieker, MLB’s director of umpire development. “We’re offering opportunities for people who want to get into the sport and are willing to try it.”
A common theme among some participants was wanting to stay in sports and often growing up in a family that officiated, as is the case with Robert Bonet, Kenneth Adams, Maria Pavon and Jamal Allen.
“I love sports. Both my brothers and my father are officials of some sort,” said Bonet, a 27-year-old Atlanta-area native and former college soccer player who holds two degrees in engineering. “My dad started me [officiating] in baseball when I was 13. After I graduated high school, he got me into football as well.
“We had a couple of times when we were all on the same crew.”
A Houston native, the 26-year-old Adams got his start in baseball with the Astros Youth Academy and has been at the JRTC on multiple occasions in the George Foster Boot Camp and other programs.
After playing wide receiver briefly at Texas A&M-Commerce before getting hurt, Adams turned to officiating, which he had done in high school.
“I’ve learned so much while I’ve been here. I’ve turned into a whole different umpire,” he said. “In a couple of weeks, I feel like I’ve evolved.”
Born in the Dominican Republic but raised in Fredericksburg, Va., Pavon, 26, is in the Navy and was selected from the Norfolk tryout camp -- a special one held for the sailors.
“I’ve always been involved in sports,” said Pavon, a three-year member of the branch. “This is a path I absolutely want to go down.”
Allen is a former pupil whose success story has brought him back to the JRTC in an instructional role.
“To be invited [last January] … was an honor in and of itself,” said Allen, who umpired in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League and the collegiate Northwoods League in 2023. “It was a blast to umpire last year, especially with some of the guys I got hired with out of camp and some more veteran guys as well.
“It really helped with my development. Now I can be able to share that with some of the campers on the instructor’s side.”
Longtime MLB umpire Jeff Kellogg said that despite baseball having more factors with the pitch timer, shift restrictions and mound visits, the youngsters in camp also have technology and former umpires at their disposal.
“It’s great for young umpires to get dialed in on what we’re doing now,” said Kellogg, while overseeing a fantasy camp game in the Holman Stadium press box with partner Mike Everitt – also a retired MLB umpire with over 25 years of service.
Kellogg was a part of a crew that worked three no-hitters. He also officiated one Wild Card Game, two All-Star Games, 15 playoff series and five World Series.
“We try to watch as many young umpires as we can,” said Kellogg, who later wore the No. 8 made famous by Hall of Fame umpire Doug Harvey. “We just watch games and see how everyone is doing. We’re there to observe, watch and talk, especially [about] the big [rule] changes the last couple of years.”
Interested potential participants should go to MLBUC.com, @MLBUmpCamps?on X, Facebook and Instagram for tryout dates.