OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla –
It would take a lot more than a few long days in the Oklahoma heat to break the smile that USA Softball Umpire Lee Gray wears on the field each game at the Armed Forces Championship tournament.
After years of eyeing countless balls and strikes across home plate and making the tough calls at first and third that have marked the path to the top of his craft, Gray’s enthusiasm for the sport remains unrelenting.
“You can’t have this much fun and call it a job,” he said. “It just doesn’t make sense to me. If I start calling this a job, then there’s a problem.”
Gray is among the elite-level umpires from across the country who have travelled to Oklahoma City this year to ensure the annual tournament between top athletes from Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps maintains its high-caliber stature.
Despite Gray’s reluctance to call the profession a job, umpiring at this level takes years of dedication. All 14 umpires on this year’s roster have reached the pinnacle of their profession, earned through a long body of work beginning at the local, state and regional level before breaking in to national-level tournaments.
At each step along the way, they complete training and certifications governed by USA Softball, and receive constant evaluation by senior umpires in the field.
“When they get called to this event, they’re able to kind of put that in the back of their head that they’ve earned it to get here,” said USA Softball Director of Operations Jake Magness.
Magness said those chosen for the tournament represent the top umpires across the nation. That uncompromising level of professionalism has long been a hallmark of the Armed Forces tournament which ranks among USA Softball’s premier events.
This year marks the second year the tournament has been held at Oklahoma City’s pristine Devon Park, the home of the USA Softball Hall of Fame and host to several marquee events dating back to 1987 including the Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship and the NCAA Women’s College World Series.
“When this one flips the page, we want to make sure we’re at our best because these players are coming straight from the service,” he said. “It’s just really cool to see all that come together, so to be able to offer top class facilities, to play on this field, things like that it enhances it a little bit more.”
Chris Hoit, a longtime umpire for the tournament with more than two decades of experience, said this event carries particular significance for her and her colleagues.
“It’s just the atmosphere and the teams,” said Hoit, whose father served in the Army. “I respect the military and what they do for our country and the sacrifices that they make. It’s something that I can give back to them.”
Hoit said she first made the roster more than a decade ago and has only missed the tournament twice since then, once for her son’s wedding and the second when the tournament was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s just an honor to be out here,” she said. “You don’t turn this tournament down. It you talk to any umpire, that’s their goal. They want to do the Armed Forces tournament.”
For Gray, his first Armed Forces tournament marked a moment when his passion for softball and his lifelong admiration of military service came full circle.
Gray said, growing up, he watched the Louisiana National Guard conduct parachute training from the backyard of his childhood home. That sparked his goal of becoming a military pilot. But his dream was deferred when his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Gray chose to stay home to take care of her as he completed college.
Then in 2011, Gray accepted a spot on the Armed Forces tournament being held that year in Pensacola, Florida where he was able to watch the Navy’s Blue Angels practice in between games.
“I was in hog heaven,” he said.
He is now a fixture on the umpire roster, returning even after winning his own battle with cancer.
“It is just a joy to be back on the field,” Gray said, adding that being an umpire has “opened up so much” in his life, especially his connection with the military.
“I would say, hands down, this is the best tournament to come to,” he said.