Becoming a Major League Baseball umpire remains Brandon Henson’s ultimate goal.

The 2002 Prairie Valley graduate recently discovered first-hand what that experience could be like.

Last week, Henson worked three spring training games in Florida’s Grapefruit League. Since 2007, Henson has steadily climbed the ladder from rookie ball to his current job in the Pacific Coast League. He took a leave of absence during the 2012 season to help care for his dad after he underwent back surgery.

“I’m only going into my second year of Triple-A, so it’ll take at least one or two more seasons before I have a chance at the big leagues,” Henson said. “Some guys are on six years of Triple-A right now.

“You need to get your strike zone rated and shoot over 95 percent on balls and strikes to get a full spring training. There’s literally a trickle-down effect when one or two guys fill a major league opening. Guys get ranked and evaluated from nine to 12 games during the season, but you don’t know when the (Professional Baseball Umpire Corp.) will be there watching you.”

Henson, who turns 31 years old on April 18, played both college basketball and football at the NAIA level for Waldorf College before transferring to FBS program Arkansas State University to continue his career on the gridiron. Henson was a 6-foot-3, 245-pound tight end for the Red Wolves, where he was named the team’s Most Improved Offensive Player during the spring of 2006.

In college, Henson majored in sports management with a minor in business.

“I lived on campus and took summer classes at Arkansas State, so I didn’t umpire at all when I was there,” said Henson. “Once I graduated in December of 2006, I went down to the famous Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School in Daytona Beach (Fla.) after the Christmas break.

“The class was a six-week crash course from 8 to 6 for six days a week with 300 students. Everything was very in depth. I learned a ton of new things.”

Henson’s interest in umpiring started as a junior in high school.

“(Former Prairie Valley head baseball coach) Bart McNeil told us one day before the very first junior high game that he needed two of us to umpire,” Henson said. “My friend Kyle Heatherington and I were the first two people to raise our hands. I grew up on a big cattle farm right outside of Gowrie, and I figured umpiring would be a good way to get out of some work on the farm.

“I did about 10 or 11 junior high games and then got certified the next year. It was kind of a fun way to basically make some summer money. I later moved to Omaha and umpired 100 America Legion games or so. When I was 22, I made it to minor league camp in March. After having a 10-day evaluation course, I went right into rookie ball before going back to Omaha that April and May to make more money. That’s when my whole career started.”

Veteran MLB umpires Jerry Lane, Mark Wegner and Mark Carlson were among the most notable names to work with Henson in spring training games between the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Detroit Tigers and Miami Marlins and Jacksonville Suns.

“It was very exciting, but it also puts a lot more pressure on you to get everything right since there’s so much more exposure (at the Major League level),” said Henson. “On Thursday, I was umping the bases when Alex Rodriguez was on base. Then on Friday, I got to see guys like Evan Longoria and Miguel Cabrera.

“Names don’t get any bigger than that. All the major league players are much different.”

Another highlight for Henson was being one of just six umpires selected for a 63-game Venezuelan Winter League schedule from October through December following the 2013 major league season.

“You get all your bills and travel paid for in the minors, but major league umpires make 10 times more money,” Henson said. “I ask myself about three times a day how long I want to continue umpiring. At this point in my life, I just have to keep riding the horse all the way to the big leagues (there are currently 95 MLB umpires and 29 in the PCL).”

During his high school days, Henson competed for the Warriors in baseball, basketball, football and track.

“My big love in high school was between basketball and football,” said Henson. “The biggest thing I took from Prairie Valley was being involved in four different sports.”

Henson, who currently resides in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., works in stadium operations for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins during the offseason. His first 2015 PCL assignment starts Thursday with a four-game series in Colorado Springs (Colo.) between the Sky Sox and Nashville Sounds.

Henson will return to Iowa on May 12 to umpire the Iowa Cubs vs. the Sounds at Principal Park in Des Moines.

Among Henson’s family members still living in the area are his mother and father, Jim and Angie Peterson (Gowrie), grandparents, Roger and Sandy Hollingsworth (Fort Dodge), grandmother, Phyllis Peterson (Callender), and aunts and uncles, Dean and Vicky Vinchattle (Gowrie) and Jim and Belia Hollingsworth (Fort Dodge).

“Mom and Aunt Vicky were at two big league spring training games last Friday,” Henson said. “They try to come whenever they can.”