Umpires have exotic road trip

Rich Silva and Jim Fanning never thought that calling balls and strikes would lead them to countries such as New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Italy.

But as the sport of softball has spread around the world, they have packed their equipment - including the palm-sized balls-and-strikes “indicator’’ - for ever-more-exotic destinations.

Silva, 65, of Peabody, and Fanning, 58, of Saugus, were already accomplished umpires when they started officiating at the highest levels of men’s and women’s softball. They have also been certified as umpires by the European Softball Federation (ESF), which runs men’s, women’s, and youth championships on the continent.

That designation came after training in May in the Czech Republic and allows them to officiate in European championships organized by the ESF.

Both umpires are also members of the Metro Boston chapter of the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) and have served that organization in a variety of roles: Silva is umpire-in-chief and Fanning is the at-large player representative.

In addition, Silva is also certified by the International Softball Federation, the governing body of softball internationally as recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the General Association of International Sports Federations

Both Silva and Fanning have about 30 years of experience and have umpired at the high school and college level, at ASA national tournaments, and in the National Pro Fastpitch League , the women’s professional league.

Silva already has six international tournaments to his credit, including the 2007 World Championships in Prague and two International Softball Congress (ISC) tournaments here in the United States. The ISC, an affiliate of the ASA, runs international tournaments featuring North American teams.

In December 2007 and January 2008, he spent two weeks umpiring in New Zealand as a representative of the ISC. He also was selected to work two US Women’s Olympic Fast-Pitch Festivals in Lowell and Worcester.

“When I started umpiring 30 years ago, my goal was to umpire at least one of the big ASA national tournaments,’’ said Silva, who has done 15 such tournaments. “I never dreamed it would lead to this.’’

How Silva and Fanning came to be certified for European tournaments is an interesting story. When Silva looked into adding European certification to his résumé, he explored the possibility of representing Spain or Portugal because of his father’s roots. But Silva’s mother was of Croatian heritage, and he applied to the softball federation in that country to represent Croatia as an umpire in European tournaments.

Fanning, who has worked three ASA national championships, also applied to work as an umpire for Croatia. They both journeyed to the Czech Republic in May for a week of training and a tournament that would prove their fitness. They both made the grade and will be working European championships this summer.

“I guess you could say we’re both Croatian-Americans now,’’ chuckled Silva, who has used a Rosetta Stone program to learn some Croatian.

Silva will leave for Bulgaria on Aug. 15, and umpire in a tournament there from Aug. 17 to 22. He’ll then hop over to Venice, Italy, where he’ll umpire another tournament, then take time for some sightseeing before returning Sept. 5.

“The level of play right now is probably about a level below what we have in the States,’’ Silva said. “But their programs are developing rapidly.’’

Fanning will be heading to the Netherlands on Aug. 22, where he’ll be doing the European men’s fast-pitch championships, which will include teams from 10 countries.

Fanning’s first overseas softball mission came in 2001, when he journeyed to Denmark as part of an umpiring clinic for the Danish softball federation in Copenhagen.

Fanning, who is known for his booming calls when he’s behind the plate, said he has noticed one obvious difference in style between himself and his European colleagues.

“We’re a bit more vociferous than they are,’’ he said. “When we were training in the Czech Republic, we were instructed not to use our voices too much because we were doing a lot of games - all except the Americans, they said, because they’re used to it.’’

Rich Fahey can be reached at faheywrite@yahoo.com.