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Legacy Families Bolstering North's Officiating Ranks
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
March 12, 2021
When Marc Crossman was attending middle and high school at Benzie Central, he didn’t attempt a shot. He never blocked a shot either.
For that matter, the 2019 grad was never charged with a foul or a violation, nor credited with an assist.
Today, he uses the fitness he’s kept up from his track and cross country days at Benzie to call fouls and violations. And, nearly every day, he assists high school boys and girls on basketball courts all over Northern Michigan.
Crossman is one of very few young MHSAA basketball officials in the north. He is also among a handful of father-son basketball and other sports officials calling Northern Michigan home.
“I tell you what man, I was probably the most dedicated fan in high school,” he said. “I went to all the home games. All the away games, boys, girls.
“When I was in high school, I was obsessed with the game of basketball.”
Crossman did play elementary basketball. He tried out for the Huskies middle school team but wasn’t chosen.
“That was the end of my basketball career,” proclaimed Crossman, who also officiates football. “And then it started up again when I was a junior when my dad (Don) roped me into the whole legacy thing with officiating.
The MHSAA’s Legacy Student Officials Program is open to any high school student at least 14 years of age. Freshman and sophomore student officials may officiate at the junior high/middle school level only, and junior and senior student officials may officiate at any subvarsity level.
The Legacy Program pairs a student with a mentor official, which can be set up through direct contact with an official the student knows, or with help from the student’s athletic director in making contact with a local approved officials association. Lucky for Crossman, he did know someone, his father Don, an assignor for the Northern Michigan Sports Officials Association.
Don is a nine-year veteran official registered in baseball, softball, volleyball and football. He’s aware of the severe shortage of officials in general, but keenly aware most officials are closer to retiring than starting on the hard court. He’s enjoyed working with his son and assigning him with others.
He also has the good fortune of having other father-son combinations to assign. Among them are Tom and Ben Post and John and Jayden O’Hagan. Ben Post and Jayden O’Hagan also started in the Legacy Program, with Ben among the first to take part.
Tom Post has been a registered official for 48 years and honored with MHSAA Finals assignments. John O’Hagan has 36 years of basketball experience and registered for baseball and softball spanning two decades.
All of those fathers and sons indicate they enjoy working together and with other partners, but note officiating comes with some challenges.
Most come from fans and coaches rarely seeing a young referee in the crew.
“There have been a few games where the coaches just seem to get in his (Jayden’s) ear more than the experienced official,” said his father. “My fear is that Jayden — and all other referees — might one day say ‘I had enough of getting screamed at all the time and want to quit.’
“We talk to coaches, we explain their youth and that we are teaching and trying to recruit more young officials,” John O’Hagan continued. “Recruiting is difficult enough encouraging people to get registered; however, when the coaches and fans simply forget it is just a game, that we are human and we will make mistakes, their behavior can deter folks from becoming a referee.”
With ongoing support and teaching from his father and regular partner Dave Nemecek, Jayden is excited to hit the court after his days as a college student.
“My dad has taught me everything I know when it comes to the game and rules side of it,” noted the 19-year-old O’Hagan. “He’s always watching me and having me do certain things to make sure that I’m doing the best I can.
“So when there’s nights I’m just not having it or am not doing good, he makes sure to let me know,” he continued. “He always keeps me on top of my game.”
The assignor Crossman enjoys helping his son navigate the referee waters.
“It is awesome, very cool,” he said. “It is fun to see him grow. It is a challenge for me to help him grow.”
Ben Post is among a significant number of Northern Michigan referees not officiating during the current pandemic. He had been on the hard court every year since graduating from college and starting to teach at age 24 in 2004.
“I absorbed his (my father’s) officiating philosophy pretty much through osmosis, and as a result we call a pretty similar game, although I have no hope of matching his competence or consistency,” Ben Post pointed out. “My dad is most in his element while working a game, and I’ve cherished every opportunity to watch and study him in that element, first as a fan and then while working alongside him.”
The pandemic has younger northern referees like Gabriel Wise, Gabe Janowiak, Brandon Nichols, Marc Crossman and Jayden O’Hagan perhaps finding themselves in tougher assignments than they anticipated this early in their careers.
“Now you’re in it,” Don Crossman said of the opportunities taken on by the younger refs. “You’ve proved yourself on a fast track.
“You’re just one of the guys now,” he continued. “It is real exciting.”
Younger referees are becoming a welcome site nowadays for coaches and athletic directors.
“When a crew comes to the gym and there are officials of varying ages, the diversity provides credibility to the crew as a whole,” said Steve Graetz, Benzie’s athletic director.
Graetz is filled with pride when he sees the youthful Crossman on the court, especially knowing he started doing many middle school games at Benzie in the Legacy Program.
“It was a safe environment in which Marc could learn the craft,” Graetz said. “To see him now regularly officiating high school games at varying levels on a regular basis speaks as much to the hard work he has put into learning and improving as it does to the accommodating format and structure of the Legacy Program.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) MHSAA officials Don Crossman, left, and his son Marc. (Middle) Ben Post, top left, with father Tom Post and son James. (Below) Jayden O’Hagan, left, and his father Jon O’Hagan. (Courtesy photos.)
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The Official View: A Shining Example
By
Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director
October 15, 2018
By Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director
This week we honor our first “Official of the Month” – Rockford’s Lyle Berry – and offer a reminder on postseason invitations while also taking a look at a few situations officials may encounter in volleyball and football.
It’s Official!
Postseason tournament officiating invitations have been released in all of our fall sports. Make sure if you were selected to get your acceptance/declination confirmations in as soon as possible. If we fail to receive an acceptance for the position, we will have to remove your name from the consideration list for this season.
Rule of the Week
VOLLEYBALL Team R’s first contact is an overpass that lands on top of the net and settles briefly. Team R’s backrow setter, while still standing on the floor, reaches up and taps the ball to the floor on Team S’s side of the court.
Ruling: Back-row attack, point for Team S.
It’s Your Call
FOOTBALL The old Swinging Gate. There are a number of fouls on this play. Which do you see?
Last Week’s IYC Ruling: Player #4 in white commits two fouls on the play. First, he make an illegal block below the waist in order to take out the lead block by the pulling guard. Then, as the running back scrambles to look for more yards, #4 returns to the pile and makes illegal helmet contact (spearing) with the runner. Both are live ball fouls with 15-yard penalties. They both occur at about the 22-yard line where the run ends, so either could be accepted/declined for the same result. (Click to see the video from last week.)
The Official View - Official of the Month
October: Lyle Berry, Rockford
After 59 years as an MHSAA registered official, Lyle Berry says his time wearing the emblem is winding down. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” his wife regularly reminds him.
Even though Lyle hasn’t been on the hardwood serving as a basketball referee since 1988, he has remained a staple in cross country and track & field meets across the state. The 2012 Vern Norris Award winner, Berry has been honored by serving as an official in 17 MHSAA Finals.
“If you’ve never stood at the finish line to watch two athletes give everything within themselves to be the first to cross, you have missed the boat,” said Berry as he provided his best example of the ABC-coined phrase, “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”
It’s working with young people that has kept him coming back year after year. And not just the competitors – Lyle has had the privilege of starting many officials on their way and enjoyed the thrill of seeing them grow and succeed.
But for all of his officiating accomplishments, they don’t compare to that spring day in 1959 when he married the love of his life, Vonna.
Prior to getting married, Lyle was a seven-time letter earner in three sports while attending Grand Rapids Central High before attending Grand Rapids Junior College. He was the first at that school to earn four letters in one year before moving on to Central Michigan University, where he played baseball. Together, Lyle and Vonna raised three sons who all proved to be good athletes as well. He served as a teacher and coach at four schools until his retirement in 1991. Through it all, Vonna has been at Lyle’s side, encouraging him to reach for his goals in athletics and officiating.
He got his start in officiating by serving in the college intramural program. He learned quickly that it wasn’t easy as he had imagined during his early days of playing sports. He credits his longevity to his love of sports and remaining involved in them. It certainly wasn’t the $1.50 he made in his start in basketball refereeing!
Lyle Berry is a shining example of what the MHSAA looks for in its officials: Dedicated and hardworking men and women who desire to make a positive impact on the next generation of student athletes. The privilege, Lyle said, is one that he “would do most anything to have continue for many years to come.”
It’s our privilege, Lyle, and we wish you many more years of continued success in officiating.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lyle Berry starts a race during a track & field meet. (Middle) Berry speaks at an MHSAA Officials Awards Banquet.