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The Official View: We Are Family
By
Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director
September 8, 2020
By Brent Rice
MHSAA Assistant Director
Camaraderie – and a feeling of being part of a bigger sports family – is among draws for nearly 10,000 officials who register with the MHSAA each school year.
As “The Official View” returns today for the 2020-21 school year, we feature a trio of sisters who have embraced the avocation and also announce a social media opportunity to further draw Michigan’s officiating community together as we play again for the first time in nearly half a year.
It’s Official!
Officials Awards and Alumni Banquet: Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get together this spring as a group for the annual Officials Awards and Alumni Banquet. Because of the importance of recognizing officials for their service, dedication and contributions to the MHSAA, John Johnson and Faye Verellen-Brown in our office created an excellent virtual stand-in for the traditional banquet. Check out the short video montage HERE.
For those receiving 20-, 30-, 40-, 45- and 50-year service awards, they have been received in the MHSAA office after a delay in production by our supplier due to COVID-19, and they are being sent to you via USPS.
Mark your calendars for May 8, 2021. This is the scheduled date for next year’s Officials Awards and Alumni Banquet. Plan on joining us in person to honor and recognize accomplishments by MHSAA officials across the state.
Officials Deadlines: The registration deadline for officials has been extended until Sept. 14. Consideration for further extensions will be made as necessary.
Other officials deadlines (i.e., MIGS, schedule submission, rules meetings and exams as applicable) for all fall sports remain in place for Sept. 17. The MHSAA has provided Local Approved Associations with flexibility for the 50 percent minimum-attendance requirement. Officials in those sports should submit the schedule they were assigned to start the season. While this may change as the season progresses, it will suffice for the purpose of providing the MHSAA with the assignments each official receives.
MHSAA Officials Facebook Page: To better engage and communicate with officials, the MHSAA has created a Facebook page specifically for all things officiating. Here, you’ll be able to get updates, connect with other officials and discuss rules, mechanics and plays for the high school sports you officiate. Please take some time to connect with us and others by visiting this new resource HERE.
Know Your Rules
FOOTBALL In high school football, in what ways can a team score using a kick?
Ruling: There are two categories of kicks – free kicks and scrimmage kicks. Free kicks include kickoffs (place kick or drop kick), safety kicks (place kick, drop kick or punt) and fair-catch kicks (place kick or drop kick). Of these, only fair-catch kicks can score (because the receiving team may attempt a field goal from the spot of the catch).
Scrimmage kicks include field goals (place kick or drop kick), tries (place kick or drop kick) and punts (punt). Of these, only field goals and tries can score.
NOTE: In high school an attempted field goal that does not score has the same effect as a punt.
It’s Your Call
SOCCER This newest IYC involves a trick play by the team in red. On this corner kick, players of the red team begin running out of play and around the back of the net. Then, one of those players reenters the field just as the corner kick is made, heading the ball into the net. Does the goal count? What’s the call?
The Official View: We are Family
If you were to ask any of the Bedrosian sisters a way that young women can stay physically active, learn skills that can be applied to their daily lives and make some money doing it, they undoubtedly would tell you “officiating.”
Each of the women (Sara Bauman, Leslie Bedrosian and Alex Bedrosian), who all graduated from New Lothrop, spend much of their winters on the hardcourt doing just that – officiating MHSAA basketball games. And last season, before COVID-19 caused a premature end to the basketball season, the sisters were able to work a three-person crew together for the first time.
Sara, 23, said she started officiating after meeting veteran official Mike Clark, and as a way to stay connected to the game she loved. “At that point in my life I had already coached, but I wanted something closer to what it felt like to play,” said Bauman, now a third-year law student at the MSU College of Law.
Leslie and Alex, both current college students themselves, said they each started officiating after following in their older sister footsteps and for similar reasons. Leslie said, “I love being a part of the game. In addition, refereeing has been my income while I attend college. I’m thankful for all of the friendships and connections I’ve made and the people I’ve met who are appreciative of the work that goes into officiating.”
The impact officiating has had on their lives is not lost on the sisters. Alex, 19, looks at officiating as a challenge.
“Being a female official can be tough, but I feel like it only makes me more confident and has given me a desire to show people what I am capable of doing,” says the youngest Bedrosian sister.
Similarly, 20-year-old Leslie says that officiating has “helped me become more assertive, ready to talk to people and handle difficult situations head on.”
Sara said she hopes displaying those same traits will inspire women to also take up officiating: “It is truly the best feeling to have a female player come up to you in awe because they have yet to have a female officiate (her) game.”
This trio of officiating sisters gives credit for their quick starts to the camps they attended and all of the veteran mentor officials who have helped them along the way, namely Clark and Sharon Sawyers. Bauman and the Bedrosians are committed to continued improvement, working their way up the high school ranks and maybe even working at the college level. It’s clear they enjoy everything officiating has to offer, and we expect long and successful careers from all of them.
If you have an interesting story or an official you’d like to see featured, send details and pictures to [email protected].
PHOTO: Sisters Leslie Bedrosian (left), Sara Bauman (middle) and Alex Bedrosian are MHSAA-registered basketball officials and last year worked together as a crew for the first time. (Photo by Ashley Breiler.)
![Traverse City LEAP](/sites/default/files/2022-03/220318_coaches_2H.jpg)
Traverse City Athletes Taking LEAP into Coaching, Officiating
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
March 18, 2022
Set. Spike. Jump – rather maybe leap?
Nothing new to many female high school student-athletes.
But this spring, Abigail Hicks, Keira Castle, Madeline Bildeaux and Honorae Shore made THE LEAP — as in Learning, Enrichment and Athletic Programs (LEAP). They actually leaped into coaching and officiating roles.
Hicks, Castle and Shore stepped into LEAP as coaches for Willow Hill Elementary School’s volleyball team. Bildeaux became a referee for LEAP’s 4th and 5th grade volleyball program.
All four girls are part of the North Shore traveling volleyball club. And, all four are a part of Future Coaches, its 4-year-old program preparing athletes to become effective coaches through LEAP, which is operated through Traverse City Area Public Schools.
Bildeaux and Castle played their first high school volleyball seasons last fall at Traverse City West. Hicks did the same at Traverse City St. Francis. Shore attends Greenspire, a Grand Valley State University-sponsored charter school located in Traverse City.
Parents, grandparents and school administrators love having the high school girls on the sidelines. The girls may love it even more though.
“The most rewarding aspect of teaching young girls is seeing the excitement they get when they get the hang of playing or when they win a game,” noted Castle, who started with the coaching program as an eighth grader. “I also love knowing that I've helped some of these girls fall in love with a sport.”
There may not be anyone more thrilled with the girls taking the leap than David Payne, elementary sports manager for LEAP. The student coaches help LEAP meet its vision of providing preschool through 12th-grade students with increased opportunities for engagement beyond the school day with activities to improve learning, health and wellness.
“The high school girls have a love and knowledge of the game that they share with the elementary kids,” Payne said. “Parents that were not comfortable or able to coach are finding the excitement and interaction between the high school girls and the elementary kids is very positive.
“At times the high school coaches look like cheerleaders on the sidelines,” he continued. “They keep the energy level high while supporting their team.”
The four ninth graders are the latest to make the “leap.” Jordan Bates, founder of the Future Coaches program, first connected the players as coaches with LEAP as COVD-19 shortened the 2020 season. The very first high school volleyball player to make the leap was Phoebe Humphrey, now a Traverse City Central sophomore. Humphrey coached Cherry Knoll as an eighth grader during the 2020 brief season. She is now coaching Eastern Elementary.
The pandemic also resulted in the cancellation of the 2021 elementary season. This season will conclude next week.
“The opportunities for these athletes to coach their own teams is extraordinary,” Bates said. “It would not have happened without David Payne.
“His support, scheduling acumen, and love of sports has made this program pretty amazing.”
Veronika Caughran, who plays for Traverse City Central, is helping Cherry Knoll Elementary in Traverse City. Anissa Wille, Suttons Bay High School; Jenna Flick, TC West; and TC Central’s Natalie Bourdo and Lily Briggs have coached North Shore travel teams. Briggs, Bourdo and Humphrey have been coaching in North Shore’s beach program for the past three years.
Hicks, who recalls Gladiators varsity players helping coach her in volleyball as a fifth grader, said the girls can’t go it alone. She’s found the Willow Hill school community to be extremely supportive.
“We have received lots of positive feedback from parents, our coaches, our team, and other LEAP coaches,” she said. “All the parents have been very kind and grateful and always willing to support the team by bringing in snacks for after the game — not only for our players but for the opposing team — along with being willing to help line judge and run the scoreboard.”
The high school players-turning-coaches have been attending classes with Bates and guest coaches mostly from the North Shore club. Topics covered include coaching philosophy, how to be a great referee, practice planning, tournament preparation and health and wellness.
Bates said the program benefits go beyond the participants.
“Perhaps the biggest struggle is for athletes and parents to realize how valuable coaching is to an athlete,” he said. “It not only helps them with communication, structure, planning, and strategizing, but also it makes them better athletes earlier in their journey.”
Adding fun too is important, Hicks noted.
“I hope I help make practices a fun environment and for them not to worry about making mistakes and helping them know that not everything is their fault,” she said. “And … how to learn from their mistakes.”
Castle, who started playing volleyball as a fourth grader at Willow Hill, agreed. She recalls fondly the difference past coaches have made in her life, including Bates.
“While I've been coaching I've also noticed how (Willow Hill players) interact with each other and cheer each other on, and it's been such a great experience,” she said.
“I remember the feeling I felt when a coach made me love volleyball, and from coaching these girls I'm starting to see what that's like from a coaching point of view.”
Bates created the program with interscholastic competition and the student-athlete in mind.
“There is also the coaching shortage, so creating opportunities for these athletes to coach, and ref, just made sense,” Bates said.
Castle is preparing to meet the growing needs.
“I plan to continue coaching volleyball until the end of high school,” Castle said. “In a year or two, I want to start coaching middle school volleyball.
“When I get to college I plan to either continue coaching or find a job as a ref.”
Hicks indicated her experience has increased her love for the game of volleyball and respect for coaches.
“I learned that coaching is a little more complex than it looks, and you have to plan practice and be prepared for them to have a bad attitude or unfocused after a long day of school,” she said. “You, as the coach, have to have a good attitude, have lots of patience, be ready to problem solve and get them back on track.”
Teamwork, sportsmanship and the value of hard work are among the strengths Castle and the other future coaches bring to the table.
“We had our girls practice sportsmanship by saying ‘good game’ and waving to the other team,” Castle said. “In practice, we have taught them to work as a team and to always give it your all.”
Hicks recommends coaching to all high school athletes.
“I’ve learned a lot,” she said, “and this has been a positive, fun experience that I definitely recommend.”
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) From left, Honorae Shore, Abigail Hicks and Kiera Castle coach their Willow Hill elementary volleyball team this season. (Middle) Madeline Bildeaux, far left, also has joined Castle, Hicks and Shore as part of the LEAP coaching and officiating program. (Top photo by Tom Spencer, middle photo courtesy of Allie Walters.)