Over the course of last year, Christopher Tobin participated in several Innovation Hub workshops and competitions to develop a protective guard for umpires’ arms.

It’s a hot Texas summer day in 2024. The bright sun hangs in the cloudless marine blue sky. Christopher Tobin, adorned in the standard protective armor of umpires – chest guard, face mask and knee pads – stands behind the plate calling balls and strikes at a local baseball game.

Tobin crouches down as the pitcher starts his windup. The ball enters the zone, and the batter swings, barely making contact.

Thwack!

Tobin suddenly feels a searing pain in his forearm. Without looking down he knows he’s been hit by the ricocheting ball in one of the few places without any protection.

“I didn’t know it was a bone bruise at the time, but I knew it hurt like hell,” Tobin recalled, laughing. “I took a little breather and got some ice and water. It was a shiner for sure.” 

While the bone bruise would take a few weeks to heal, a nagging thought remained with Tobin for months: Why have there been so many equipment innovations for players but so few for umpires?

Tobin had umpired baseball games at various levels since he was 14 years old and finally had enough of the lack of protection. A junior information technology (IT) major at Texas Tech University’s Jerry S. Rawls College of Business, Tobin has always tinkered and built things, so he set out to develop a protective guard for umpires’ arms. 

“When an umpire is down in their stance, their arms are right down here,” Tobin said, arms rested at his sides as he crouched and pretended to set up behind an imaginary catcher. “It’s really unintuitive. Umpires are decked out in gear, but the only parts of the body that don’t have any protection are their arms and hands that stay in the strike zone.”

Within a week he made a prototype from a sock and some protective material and used it during his next game. It may have been rudimentary, but it was effective.

Feeling confident about his proof of concept, Tobin partnered with friend and fellow Rawls College student Steven Mangoffo, an accounting major, to form Strike Guard. Tobin would bring the umpiring experience and passion for this project while Mangoffo would handle the finances.

“Steven’s a guy I trust and someone I wanted to get into business with,” Tobin said. “I didn’t want to do this by myself.”

Tobin found additional assistance at Texas Tech’s Innovation Hub at Research Park. He first heard about the Hub from a guest speaker in one of his introductory IT courses during his sophomore year, about one year prior to forming Strike Guard. The speaker had participated in the Hub’s Accelerator Program to kickstart their own business and encouraged Tobin and the other students to seek out the Hub for any venturing opportunities that may come up.

Tobin was a little hesitant at first because he had no experience starting a business. He also knew many of the Hub’s programs and competitions were open to participants beyond students, including Texas Tech faculty and staff and West Texas entrepreneurs. 

Still, Tobin applied for the Hub’s ACTIVATE I-Corps program, a five-week workshop that helps early-stage teams develop business models and plans, including dedicating time to the customer discovery process. Over the course of the program, Tobin spoke with various umpires and protective equipment industry professionals.

“The program opened my eyes to how much goes into a business plan and the research that’s needed,” Tobin said. “I loved doing this, and from then on I decided to try and do everything I could with the Innovation Hub.”

The next time Tobin participated with the Hub was a few weeks later with the iLaunch Competition. Tobin took his business plan from the I-Corps program and created a pitch to present to a panel of judges, just like the show “Shark Tank.” The competition’s goal is to identify, grow and launch startups.

“It’s peace of mind that we want to offer umpires,” Tobin said about the focus of his pitch. “Umpire gear hasn’t really changed over the past 100 years. An umpire gets one foul bowl to the arm, and they’re asking, ‘What’s coming next?’ Their mind is off the game.”

Tobin finished in second place, earning a $3,000 prize and validation that there was legitimate interest in Strike Guard going forward.

This spring semester, Tobin continued that momentum by participating in the first-ever Commercialization Poster Competition. Students presented the commercialization potential of their ideas and research to a non-specialized audience. The event was a partnership between the Hub and the Center for Transformative Undergraduate Experiences and took place during Texas Tech’s Discoveries to Impact, a month-long conference that celebrates research, engagement, innovation and startups.

Once again, Tobin and Strike Guard found success, being named one of the winners and earning a one-year membership to the Innovation Hub and a $1,000 prize sponsored by the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance. 

“Now that he's a member of the Hub, Christopher has access to a powerful network of mentors, experts and entrepreneurs who can help him refine and scale his idea,” said Ryan Bain, program manager for the Innovation Hub. “I’m excited to see him take advantage of opportunities like the JumpStart Fund, which could provide the resources he needs to build out a working model and take Strike Guard to the next level." 

Tobin knows he wants to enhance Strike Guard’s breathability and moisture-wicking capabilities. He’s also aware of the challenging patenting process that lies ahead, but he’s confident of the help and guidance he can find through the Innovation Hub. 

“Each event or competition is just a higher step on a ladder,” Tobin said. “The customer discovery, the pitching, the prototyping, the commercialization research. All of it funnels into something you can build a business on. It’s really practical.”

The Innovation Hub sees Tobin as a shining example of what they offer Texas Tech students. 

"Seeing Christopher go from having no entrepreneurship background to becoming an active participant in multiple programs shows how accessible innovation really is,” said Taysha Williams, managing director of the Innovation Hub. “His journey represents what the Hub is all about—developing people, not just ideas." 

Tobin hopes he can serve as an example for other Texas Tech students, especially the ones who want to see their ideas turn into reality.

“Your years here are very short,” he said. “There are just so many things that you can do for yourself. Build on that foundation. Build your own direction where you want to go. 

“The Innovation Hub threw stuff my way, and I just said, ‘All right, let’s do it.’ It’s a new world they’ve introduced me to, and I’ve loved every second of it.”