Pro Image Officiating Academy (PIOA) is collaborating with Florida Atlantic University to train the newest generation of umpires in baseball. The CEO and former professional umpire, Zach Rebackoff, will run it beginning Sep. 3. 

Rebackoff has noticed an uprise in the number of poor calls referees across all sports are making, causing severe reactions from fans. He wants to combat this trend and stop the improper training of referees. 

“I want to revolutionize the scholastic and youth level umpires so that they will not have to be chased to their cars [from spectators],” said Rebackoff. 

This 17-week course teaches the Boca Raton community the proper rules of umpiring. By the end of the course, participants will be able to gain their umpire certification, which is necessary to begin work. 

It is advised/recommended that participants possess basic baseball knowledge before signing up for the course. This includes information on strikes, balls, outs, number of innings and other general baseball rules. 

The early registration fee is $1,200 and it increases to $1,360 after Aug. 17, Afterpay is accepted for payments. It is open to 50 participants and has no age requirement.

“It’d be an amazing opportunity for students to find employment as well as gain leadership skills and how to call games fairly and ethnically,” said Donald Van Pelt, assistant vice president of student engagement. 

The course will run on Tuesday and Wednesday nights from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Once a week, it will be inside a classroom at FAU and the other day, it will occur at a nearby baseball field in Boca Raton. 

“The next night of the week is practical, with inter-squad games, practical games and scrimmage game situations,” said Rebackoff.

During the course’s second half, participants will travel to various leagues and receive compensation for their work. Rebackoff said he has arranged deals with local little leagues to have his umpires call the games. 

The PIOA is run by Rebackoff, President of the Palm Beach Baseball Umpire Association (PBBUA), Randy Benhart and Vice President of PBBUA, Jim O’Neill.

Growing up in the Bronx with a father who loved the sport were the conditions that shaped Rebackoff into a baseball fan. 

“I loved baseball from the minute I watched it,” said Rebackoff.

While watching an MLB game, Rebackoff’s friend gave him a suggestion to pursue being an umpire. He decided to make the call and begin his journey at umpire school. 

He gained his certification and began working as a professional in Single A and transitioned to AAA after four seasons. Then, he got an assignment to umpire in the Dominican Republic for four years.

Completing the PIOA gives certification to umpire at the high school and youth level. Following this, individuals may choose to attend further training to qualify to umpire collegiate or professional baseball. 

Rebackoff’s real-world experience in umpiring and past two academies inspired him to create the PIOA. His first was the New York School of Umpiring at Fordham University. Later, he owned the Zach Rebackoff School of Umpiring in Santo Domingo. 

Being a local to Palm Beach, he wanted to find a school in the area that would implement his program.

Rebackoff began reaching out to FAU officials, and in early May, he got in touch with Van Pelt and Stephen Engle, Associate Provost for Academic Personnel. 

“It’s a collaboration with the college. They’ve taken me under their wing, and they’ve adopted me,” said Rebackoff. “I couldn’t have done it without [Van Pelt].”

Engle believes the Academy will connect well with the South Florida community and build off of a culture from the Avron B. Fogelman Sports Museum at FAU, which displays the immense history of sports, particularly baseball. 

After contacting FAU, Rebackoff began collaborating with administrators and gaining support. 

“Once he had the documentation, it was then easy for us to evaluate to see if it was a partnership that would be beneficial to the students,” said Van Pelt. 

FAU used a three-pillar system based on the sense of belonging, career readiness and health and wellness. Since the Academy checked off two pillars and community engagement, the Division of Student Affairs deemed the partnership beneficial. 

“ [FAU is] not gaining anything except the benefit of having people come to campus to take a class with Zach, and then they’ll know where FAU is. You never know what comes from that,” said Engle. 

Setting up the collaboration has only taken two months; according to Engle, this is a typical timeline for creating new projects. 

For now, the Academy is only contracted until January, but FAU plans to assess its success in the first year and possibly extend the contract. 

Megan Bruinsma is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email her at mbruinsma2022@fau.edu or DM her on Instagram @megan_bruinsma or X (Twitter) @MeganBruinsma.