Tom Hathaway, USA Softball of Cincinnati, is the Deputy Umpire-in-Chief (UIC) for USA Softball of Cincinnati and has over 20 years of umpiring in the area in addition to working 15 National Championships.  Tom spends most his umpiring time mentoring umpires and making assignments.  Recently named the National Federation Softball Umpire of the Year for Ohio, Tom truly loves the game and working with umpires.

Austin Bowen, USA Softball of Arkansas, is in his third year of umpiring USA Softball in Hensley, Ark. Starting in high school, Austin has continued umpiring as he finishes his first year at Southern Arkansas University where he is majoring in Education. Through hard work and a desire to improve, Austin has advanced his career from working just league play to tournaments in Arkansas in just two years.

Matt Davis, USA Softball of Indiana, has worked multiple levels of Junior Olympic (JO) fast pitch and currently serves as the Assistant UIC for fast pitch for USA Softball of Indiana. Among many other responsibilities, he coordinates all umpire assignments for USA Softball of Indiana State events.

Joe Malec, USA Softball of Michigan, has been a District UIC for USA Softball of Michigan for the past seven years. Joe works hard to encourage umpires in his district and has continually had the highest percentage of his umpires attend State Clinics every year.

David Ritsema, USA Softball of Michigan, has taught many new umpires for the USA Softball of Michigan program. Retiring at the end of the year to spend more time with his family, many umpires have started their careers by attending David's Beginning Umpire Sessions.

Janee Townsend, USA Softball of Wisconsin, started umpiring as a way to stay in the game when she was no longer able to play fast pitch and make some extra money and has been a USA Softball umpire for 21 years. Janee is a project manager who implements IT software solutions when she’s not on the field and has umpired in two USA Softball National Championships.

Roderick Wilcox, USA Softball of Minnesota, began umpiring in Faribault, Minn. in 1999. He credits the great umpires in that area for teaching him the fundamentals of umpiring. An Elite umpire in the slow pitch category, Roderick has worked four USA Softball National Championships. He is also a Gold member of the Medals Program and a member of the National Indicator Fraternity.

The game of softball lasted for the final 35 years of Ed Wanick’s life with 25 of those years as an umpire. USA Softball of Southern California has lost one of the great ones as three weeks ago he called his last game. In Ed’s honor, enjoy your loved ones, enjoy the game of softball and enjoy USA Softball!

Wayne Harbarger, USA Softball of Sacramento, attended his first National Umpire school in 2013. Wayne volunteers to help with any task the association needs done, ranging from exam scoring, tournament fence installation and removal, bat check for recreation leagues or National Tournaments, or picking up snacks for a morning clinic. He continues to work on improving his skill set by attending various association clinics and joint training clinics with the local Natioanl Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) group.

Michael Matlock, USA Softball of Southern California, still invests the time and effort into practicing his mechanics while being involved in the game and advancing through the ranks. Southern California is fortunate to have a member umpire that works to hard and wants to keep the integrity of the game.