ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) has named Jason Smith as the new UMAC Softball Coordinator of Umpires, the conference announced on Thursday.
 
“Our UMAC softball coaches are excited to see Jason move into the coordinator position,” said UMAC Commissioner Corey Borchardt. “He has proven a strong ability to grow the size of the umpire staffs he has worked with in the past in similar positions and he is passionate about the education and development of umpires. I firmly believe this will raise the collective quality of our UMAC umpires and positively impact our student-athlete experience in the sport of softball.”
 
In addition to his new role with the UMAC, Smith also serves as the softball umpire coordinator for both the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and NCAA Division II Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Smith has assigned umpires for the MIAC since 2021 and the NSIC since 2023.
 
“I am excited to have the opportunity to become the softball assignor for the UMAC,” said Smith. “The competitive depth of the UMAC continues to increase and I am thankful to play a very small part in ensuring the student-athletes and institutions get the best officials every time they compete. I look forward to working alongside the UMAC staff and coaches as we prepare for the 2025 softball season.”
 
In addition to his experience as an umpire coordinator, Smith has served as an NCAA Division I softball umpire for the Big 10, Big 12, AAC, Missouri Valley, Mountain West, WAC, and Summit conferences. In his career as an NCAA umpire, Smith has worked four DI Regionals, a DI Super Regional, three DII Regionals, two DII Super Regionals, four DIII Regionals, and four DIII Super Regionals. Smith also served as an umpire for the DII National Championship in 2017 and 2021.
 
In addition to his work as an NCAA umpire, Smith served as an umpire with the Women’s Pro Fastpitch League (2022-2023) and the National Pro Fastpitch League (2019-2021).
 
Smith also umpires for USA Summer Softball, working the USA Softball Minnesota State JO UIC (2022-Present) as well as numerous national and regional championships.