Burlington has a long and notable sports history that includes many outstanding athletes, coaches, officials, media, and volunteers. The Burlington Sports Hall of Fame (BSHOF) is dedicated to identifying and honouring the individuals who have created this rich tradition. This year, BSHOF is celebrating its 16th year and is proud to be inducting six new honorees at their 2024 induction ceremony on Tuesday, May 28 at the Burlington Golf and Country Club.
Our next inductee is Lisa Turbitt.
Her life in sport all started because her brother’s T-ball game needed an umpire.
When Lisa was 11, she was at a T-ball game, watching her brother play and her dad coach. An umpire didn’t show up, so her dad suggested that Lisa do the game. She agreed and the highlight was that after the game, the coach of the other team told her father that Lisa was as good as other umpires they’d had. She may have been hooked right then. She decided to umpire for the rest of the season.
Forty years later, she’s still going.
Lisa Turbitt has been a Baseball Ontario umpire for 43 years and is regarded as one of Canada’s most celebrated baseball umpires. She has been an umpire or supervisor at over 25 national championships and at 10 international events. At the inaugural Women’s Baseball World Cup in 2004, Lisa worked the gold medal game and became the first female to work home plate at an international competition; that same year, Lisa was the first female to be awarded the Dick Willis Senior Umpire of the Year. In 2006, Lisa was back at the World Cup and again earned the assignment of working home plate for the gold medal game, this time in Taiwan. In 2012, she umpired at the Women’s Baseball World Cup; ten years later, Lisa became the first woman to work a World Baseball Classic game.
All because she found that she loved to be an umpire — and, as it turns out, she’s pretty good at it.
Lisa moved up the ranks through hard work, and despite the occasional “The softball diamond is over there” comment, became a Baseball Canada national level umpire in 1995. When she was starting out, she didn’t realize that maybe things were different for her because of her gender. Then as more opportunities and challenges came her way, she thought that her efforts may remove barriers for future umpires. She has seen more and more girls getting involved in baseball. She has been a trailblazer for female umpires, with many “firsts” to her name. First woman to work a Senior Men’s Nationals; part of the first all-female crew for an Intercounty Baseball League game. Because of the length and breadth of her career, she is one of the sport’s most respected umpires in North America.
It isn’t just on the diamond that Lisa has impacted the game. She has served on Baseball Ontario’s Umpiring Committee since 1998 and was appointed to the WBSC (World Baseball Softball Confederation) Baseball Umpiring Commission in 2016. She has been a leader in umpire development programs, writing curriculum that is now used across the country and has coordinated training and development opportunities for prospective Level 4/5 umpires. That Lisa came from an era where she was in her mid-twenties before she met another female umpire to now leading and inspiring the next generation of umpires is just one of the remarkable aspects of her journey.
Lisa sees a great future for female baseball umpires. Other sports have female officials at the professional level. The NBA, NFL, and NHL have all had female officials and she is hoping for the day when the MLB will follow suit. In her 40-plus years in the sport, she has seen a shift from the days in which many associations didn’t even have women’s baseball and most of the coaching and almost all of the umpiring was done by males. More and more women are getting positions within the sport and it’s only a matter of time before it leads to the diamond.
In terms of her journey in baseball, Lisa began with pictures of Blue Jays and Expos on her bedroom wall and as a teenager, she impressed herself with the composure she found to be able to tell grown men what they could and couldn’t do. Maybe the most impact of her career can be felt in her job as a teacher/librarian, where she deals with young people looking for their own path. Umpiring baseball has taught her confidence and valuable interpersonal skills like situational management, conflict resolution, and communication.
Lisa is proud to be at the world level, but she’s hopeful of the day when there are so many more women at that level. WBSC has had at least one woman umpire at every level of international competition from U12 up to premier 12, including the Women’s World Cup. This is tremendous growth from her first international opportunity back in 2004.
Lisa is happy when young girls say that they want to be like her; just seeing her on the field gives them permission to be part of baseball. To dream that dream. Lisa’s personal dream is to continue to mentor and develop other girl and woman officials. Her big dream is to one day see women umpiring Major League Baseball.
In 2023, Lisa was honoured by Baseball Canada with the Lifetime Achievement Award, the first female to be so awarded.
Just another first for this icon of Canadian baseball. The Burlington Sports Hall of Fame is honoured to induct Lisa Turbitt into the Builder category.
The May 28 induction ceremony at the Burlington Golf and Country Club is a sold-out event. There will be livestreaming available at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJmRHY3Z-Cw
Viewers have the option to set a reminder for the event.
