Prior to 1985 Cobb County Sports Officials Association (CCSOA) and North Georgia Amateur Umpires Association (NGAUA) umpired all the high school baseball games in Cobb County. For whatever reason, CCSOA just disappeared from the high school scene. NGAUA was then joined by Tara Umpires Association to help cover the Cobb County games. However, some Cobb County coaches becoming uneasy due to the distance umpires had to travel to games. They complained that umpires were showing up late, and all too often not showing up at all. It steadily became an impossible task for these groups to adequately cover the whole county.

Three prominent Cobb County coaches approached Dennis Payne, a former member of CCSOA for help. Dennis agreed to help, and recruited several local umpires. Then Dennis contacted the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) concerning a new charter. He was told by Mr. Tommy Guillebeau, then Assistant Executive Director of GHSA that he should operate under the existing CCSOA charter. But CCSOA rejected the idea, stating that they were a recreational association, and were no longer working high school games. Dennis went back to GHSA and was granted an emergency charter for 1 year. The charter was granted with the provision that if he could make it work he would be granted a full charter for the following season. Dennis accepted this challenge and did indeed set up a group to work the 1985 season. During that first year, Dennis scheduled games from the back of his pickup truck for the three schools that had requested his help. There was no training and there were no meetings. Dennis understood that the Cobb County coaches needed help, and he wanted to help as much as he could. However, with football officiating duties, as well as work related responsibilities, he did not feel he could continue to schedule games.

One of the umpires Dennis recruited in the inaugural season was David Hudson. David had previous experience with other associations and agreed to help form an association to accommodate the Cobb County schools. After the 1985 season, Dennis and David set out to visit every baseball coach in Cobb County. After talking to the coaches and the GHSA office again, a decision was made to develop the Marietta Umpires Association (MUA). A “Constitution and By-Laws” was quickly drawn up and a full charter was granted by GHSA beginning with the 1986 season. MUA scheduled all the Cobb County schools in 1986, except the two or three that had already signed contracts for that season with previous associations. It was decided that Dennis would be the president, and continue recruiting and handling communication with GHSA. David became the vice president in charge of training, and scheduling. The first MUA business meeting was held at Shoney’s Restaurant on Cobb Parkway in Marietta. Approximately 10 prospective umpires were present at that first meeting. The business meetings then moved to Sprayberry High School, with Saturday mechanics sessions at the J.J. Daniell Middle School covered play area. Word got around and soon MUA expanded to include Cherokee County and parts of North Fulton County. The organization continued to operate as originally set up until 1994 when officers were elected by membership for the first time.

MUA is currently servicing 51 high schools in Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, North Fulton, and Paulding counties. MUA has successfully worked dugout tournament games, state sponsored all-star games, region tournaments, and state semi-final playoff games, as well as many state championship games. MUA is a high school only organization and does not schedule recreational baseball. However, many members are actively engaged in those games through local organizations.