Philly veteran helps fellow vet kickstart career in sports officiating

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Saturday, August 16, 2025
Philly veteran helps fellow vet kickstart career in sports officiating

ROYERSFORD, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Philadelphia native Jerry Davis served in the U.S. Marine Corps in the 1980s. He remembers feeling lost after completing his service.

In the late 1990s, he saw an ad in the newspaper searching for sports officials for children's football games. He has been involved ever since.

Davis started a local offshoot of the national nonprofit, Battlefields to Ballfields, which he calls, 'Battlefields to Ballfields Officials Philly'.

Within it, he helps veterans like Oliver Cross of Ambler get involved in sports officiating from scratch.

Watch the video above to see them officiating a matchup at Pope John Paul II High School.

To learn more about Battlefields to Ballfields Officials Philly, visit their website.

Action News intern Ava Petrosky contributed to this report.

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