Silva, a Hereford graduate, has been officiating games across the Texas Panhandle as well as the college level going on 20 years and was named as the Amarillo chapter president of the Texas Association of Sports Officials in January.
Over those two decades, Silva was recently able to share a unique experience for his passion of officiating with his son, Braelen, as the two called their first varsity game together in Groom on Oct. 3.
The two have called junior high and sub varsity games together before but to do it on a varsity stage was extremely special.
“I’m very proud of Braelen,” Silva said. “It was so cool to officiate a game with my son in a varsity setting. I love watching him and the work he puts into it. He’s learning it all well and takes criticism well. He has the demeanor for being a ref and nothing phases him.”
Braelen echoed his father’s comments.
“It was exciting,” Braelen said. “Being under the lights and calling a game with my dad was so much fun.”
Why Braelen goes under his alter ego comparable to Clark Kent in the referee stripes, the 18-year-old senior is a Superman on the Randall baseball team.
As a junior last spring, Braelen was a first-team all-district pitcher going 5-0 for the Raiders with 27 strikeouts boasting a 2.88 ERA.
Deciding not to play football after his freshman year to focus on baseball, Braelen needed a job so decided to get into the family business. He’s watched his father ref since he could walk and thought it’d be a fun experience. Braelen started officiating at 16-years-old and fell in love with it.
“Being a baseball player has prepared me for officiating,” said Braelen, who carries a 3.8 grade point average in the classroom. “In baseball you can’t be too high or too low. You have to stay steady and that goes for being a ref as well. That prepared me for officiating and all of the coaches I’ve learned under.”
Being a teenager, Braelen was also prepared for what comes with this difficult task.
“At my age I know I get treated differently because of how young I am,” Braelen said. “These coaches also know I have authority when I need to, and we have a mutual respect.”
“Braelen has really picked up on officiating,” Silva said. “I credit that to his passion for it but we also have a great training program that is second to none. The younger officials are excelling because of it. If I had that training I may be in the NFL. This allows young officials to be prepared and gives them everything they need.”
Braelen’s focus is always on the diamond helping Randall win and playing at the college level, but he knows when that chapter of life is over, one thing is for sure and that’s opening a new chapter in officiating.
“I definitely can see myself officiating in the future,” Braelen said. “I would eventually like to pursue it at the college level and then see where it goes from there.”