RMAC Lifetime Achievement Honoree Ray Lutz Passes Away
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Lifetime Achievement Award winner and former RMAC official Ray Lutz, passed away on Friday, Dec. 1
Lutz was a well-known sports official for over five decades. He aided in many capacities and officiated several football, basketball and track and field contests at all levels – high school, junior college, NCAA Division I, II and III.
At the high school level, Ray officiated over 2,400 varsity contests, 1,000 sub-varsity games and nearly 500 playoff games in football and basketball. He worked six football and 12 basketball championship games and was a state meet official in track more than 20 times.
From 1981-1997, he was a Division I women’s basketball official in the High Country Athletic Conference (HCAC), which later became today’s Western Athletic Conference (WAC). He also officiated in the Colorado Athletic Conference (CAC) from 1991-1993, before the conference dissolved in 1996. Several of the remaining CAC teams were later absorbed by the RMAC.
Ray served as a Division II RMAC official for nearly two decades (1980-1999) and for the last four years, he was the conference’s video observer. He officiated in hundreds of games including the RMAC Tournaments.
With over 50 years of officiating experience, his knowledge, passion and perspective of the game became extremely valuable to newcomers and veterans alike. Since 1999, Ray spent a lot of his spare time working at summer camps for officials. His dedication to cultivating officials and impact in sports did not go unnoticed.
Ray was inducted into the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) Hall of Fame and received the Colonel F. Don Miller Sports Service Award in 2004. The award honors people who have left a lasting contribution to Colorado Springs sports and is presented to those locally dedicated to the importance of sports in building young lives.
In 2016, Ray was one-of-five recipients to receive the RMAC Women’s Basketball Officiating Legacy Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is presented to those who have shown a passion, dedication and steadfast allegiance to women’s basketball and officiating during their lifetime.
The Celebration of Life will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 22 at Calhan High School in Calhan, Colorado.
Calhan High School - Main Gymnasium
800 Bulldog Drive
Calhan, CO 80808