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Admin
Colorado Springs Football Officials Association
Cecil Harrison
Colorado Springs, Colorado
80917
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 Col. F. Don Miller Award |
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Saturday, October 30
It's official: Lutz has few peers in his field
Below are excerpts from an article written by Danny Summers which appeared in The Gazette on 10/30/04.
Referee to receive Miller award, induction into CHSAA hall of fame
Longtime high school official Ray Lutz will be presented with the Col. F. Don Miller Award tonight at the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame Banquet at the World Arena. He was also selected this week for induction into the Colorado High School Activities Association Hall of Fame. The CHSAA induction ceremonies will be held in January.
"I feel undeserving, and I certainly feel humbled and honored," Lutz said. "With all of the outstanding people who are past recipients of the F. Don Miller Award, and all of the outstanding people who have been selected to the CHSAA Hall of Fame, I am honored to be among them."
Lutz officiated his first basketball game in Iowa in 1959. He moved to Colorado Springs in 1965. Since then he has officiated more than 2,400 varsity contests, 500 playoff games including 18 state championship football and basketball games, and more than 20 state track and field meets.
The F. Don Miller Award honors people who have left a lasting contribution to Colorado Springs sports. Col. F. Don Miller played a monumental role in bringing the U.S. Olympic Committee to Colorado Springs in the 1970s.
In addition to the impact he's made on youth, coaches and other officials, Lutz has been a Special Olympics coach for 16 years, a volunteer Parks and Recreation coach, and a Colorado Football Officials Association vice president. He also founded the Pikes Peak Track and Field Officials Association and continues to serve as president. Lutz taught elementary and adaptive physical education in District 11 from 1965 to 1995.
"All of Ray's work and officiating over the past 40 years has left a lasting mark in Colorado Springs," said Tom Falgien (first recipient of the Col. F. Don Miller Award in 1996), who also sits on the selection committee. "He's soft-spoken and always a gentleman. I've never seen a conflict with a coach or a player."
Ray has officiated some big games in Colorado Springs, but he has a hard time selecting a favorite. "I don't know if I can pick one out, but the very first Wasson-Palmer football games I did in the 1960s were really fun," he said. "That was the rivalry in the city in those days. Later there were the Wasson-Mitchell games. I always enjoyed inner-city rivalries."
"He has great respect when he walks out on the field and people know he'll do the job right," Falgien said. "He does it by example."
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