'Officiate Michigan Day' Welcomes 1,200
July 27, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
GRAND RAPIDS – April Martin aspires to move up the college basketball officiating ladder. Receiving an NCAA Tournament assignment someday is a dream.
So she spent the first half of Saturday's "Officiate Michigan Day" at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids receiving tips and learning what it takes to get to the top from two of the most respected referees in her field -- NBA Finals veterans Joe Crawford and Bill Kennedy.
Crawford and Kennedy were two of more than 40 officials representing the professional, college and high school levels who passed on their expertise to Martin and a total of 1,248 officials who attended Saturday's event, believed to be one of the largest gatherings of sports officials in U.S. history.
Officiate Michigan Day was a cooperative effort by the National Association of Sports Officials and Michigan High School Athletic Association in advance of the NASO annual summit, which kicks off Sunday in Grand Rapids.
"It's just a great day to be a Michigan official," said Martin, a 1997 Detroit Renaissance grad who currently officiates at the high school, junior college, NAIA and NCAA Division III levels. "Seeing your family, which is referees, … it was great seeing everyone here just knowing that everyone is trying to get something out of this day."
Officials from all corners of both peninsulas received the opportunity to learn and interact on a variety of topics and with a variety of officials regarded at the top of their respective fields in Michigan and in some cases nationally.
Sport-specific sessions provided training for officials working in baseball, basketball, competitive cheer, football, gymnastics, lacrosse, ice hockey, soccer, softball, track & field, volleyball and wrestling. Joining Crawford and Kennedy among the best-known instructors and speakers were NCAA National Coordinator of Volleyball Officials Joan Powell, National Hockey League Senior Vice President and Director of Officiating Terry Gregson and official Dan O’Halloran, and National Football League officials Perry Paganelli, Carl Paganelli, Jr., and Dino Paganelli.
All three Paganellis have officiated Super Bowls, and O’Halloran is coming off working his fourth straight Stanley Cup Final. Crawford and Kennedy both officiated during the recent NBA Finals, and Powell also served as team leader of the U.S. women’s national volleyball team that won the silver medal at the 2008 Olympics.
MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts and Barry Mano, founder and president of NASO, gave the opening address to a packed DeVos Center ballroom. Four-time Super Bowl official Jerry Markbreit addressed the entire group to close the afternoon.
"I hope you appreciate what you got here today," said Bill Topp, a presenter Saturday and vice president of publishing and management services for NASO and Referee magazine. "It's not just about the volume of people. It's the types of people you have here and the interaction that's going on and the fact that you've got sports talking to each other where they normally don't talk."
Martin learned but also taught. She sat on the "Officiating 101" panel that discussed issues for new officials, one of 13 lunchtime workshops on topics ranging from life in the NBA to female officials recruitment to outside views on high school officiating.
Marquette's Mark Petrie was one of a small group of officials who made the trip from the Upper Peninsula, and he spent his lunch hour listening to a round table discussion on "Making Good Associations Great." An MHSAA official since 1993, he's the trainer for volleyball for the Upper Peninsula Officials Association.
"It's an opportunity to get together with fellow officials, but more importantly an opportunity to learn and grow as an official," Petrie said. "The day any of us thinks we know everything is the day we should retire."
Commonality was a theme throughout the inaugural Michigan day, with presenters sharing mechanics and strategies that apply at every level of athletics. Equally emphasized was the responsibility of officials to take what they learned back to their local colleagues while working to recruit new officials to the ranks.
"This is pretty unique in that we have this many officials, both men and women, coming together in one place. We have a common theme to improve officiating and to make it consistent at the high school level," said DeWitt's Mike Brya, a high school official since 1995.
"I want to first off be a better official, but also to help our association. To help our officials, help our younger officials, and try to give back as much as I can.
NASO reported on its website that only Georgia's officiating day in 2011, with 1,600 participants, has outdrawn Michigan for a similar event.
PHOTOS: (Top) Clockwise from top left, Joan Powell, Joe Crawford and Bill Kennedy were among speakers at Saturday’s “Officiate Michigan Day.” (Middle) Cheer officials Candy Cox (left) and Stacy Smith present during a breakout session. Click to see more photos from Saturday's event.
NFHS Voice: Good Time to Appreciate Officials
April 9, 2020
By Karissa Niehoff
NFHS Executive Director
During this shutdown of normal life in our nation, we are learning to deal with a new challenge – how to handle the unexpected time on our hands at home. Simply keeping up with the days of the week is a major accomplishment!
While we anxiously await the re-opening of schools and a return of high school sports and performing arts, this down time can be used in positive ways to take advantage of educational opportunities. And kudos to some individuals who already are seizing those opportunities – men and women who officiate high school sports.
Two weeks ago, we began to offer the 11 officiating courses on the NFHS Learning Center free of charge, and the response has been nothing short of amazing. By the end of March – merely a week into this new opportunity – more than 5,200 courses had been taken.
In addition to veteran officials fine-tuning techniques in one or more of the seven sports featured in these courses, this has been a great opportunity for individuals interested in officiating to take a free course to determine their interest level.
Those of us in leadership positions are so appreciative of these individuals who give freely of their free time to officiate high school sports or adjudicate music contests. We would suggest that everyone – student-athletes, coaches, parents and other fans – use this down time to do the same.
At various times this year before the shutdown of schools, officials have been the victim of verbal and physical abuse. Inappropriate behavior by parents and other fans was causing officials to quit before they even reached two years on the job.
And yet, in the past three years, more than 35,000 individuals have signed up to become officials through the NFHS’ #BecomeAnOfficial campaign and 5,200 courses that have been taken in the past couple of weeks by men and women who want to give back to high school sports. These are good signs more people will continue to be involved in officiating when the games return.
But what about the parents and other fans in the stands? Will their behavior be changed upon return? The conclusion of the New Mexico Activities Association’s state basketball tournament last month provided an interesting perspective on the impact of fans to the atmosphere at high school sporting events.
After completing the first two days of its state tournament with fans in the stands, the NMAA conducted the final three days without fans because of concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Dana Pappas, commissioner of officials for the NMAA, noted the following about the final three days of competition:
“Officials would make a call and if coaches had a question about it, they asked – calmly and respectfully. In huddles during time-outs, coaches just talked to their players, without raised voices. The behavior of coaches on the sidelines from Thursday through Saturday was in stark contrast to what we witnessed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Perhaps they did not feel the need to be overly emotional for the benefit of their fans.
“My hope is that the absence of sport throughout the world gives us all a moment to gain perspective and do a ‘gut check’ as to the kind of fans we are at contests. If the quality of the game is unchanged (or even better) without fans there to scream at the coaches, officials and players, then is that behavior really necessary when the games resume?”
The message here is that while the games can continue without fans, the ideal situation is for stands full of fans positively cheering for their teams.
Dr. Karissa L. Niehoff is in her second year as executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is the first female to head the national leadership organization for high school athletics and performing arts activities and the sixth full-time executive director of the NFHS, which celebrated its 100th year of service during the 2018-19 school year. She previously was executive director of the Connecticut Association of Schools-Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference for seven years.