'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.
Grand Blanc Senior Joins Officials 'Legacy'
February 15, 2017
By Lisa Paine
Swartz Creek View
HARTLAND – Michigan, not unlike most other states across the nation, is struggling with a shortage of officials for junior high and high school sports. Steve Tannar, the Kensington Lakes Activities Association assigner, says locally that Michigan High School Athletic Association registered officials are down by one third.
Looking to stem the tide, the MHSAA is reaching out to high school juniors and seniors through its Legacy Officials Program.
Jason Caine, a Grand Blanc senior, is working with his veteran partner, Shawn Waterman. Caine said he came across the program through an online application and “just wanted to give it a try.”
“I attended a clinic at Goodrich High, just the basics, and it just took off after that,” said Caine. “After the clinic I attended Rules School and the Genesee County Officials Association (GCOA). Through that, I got partnered with Shawn Waterman (a veteran MHSAA official). They mentor us and show us the basics.”
Caine is also being mentored by eight-year MHSAA official and former coach Brian Morley of Grand Blanc. Caine, who played freshman and junior varsity baseball at Grand Blanc, said he’s not a typical multi-sport athlete.
“I’m a DECA Officer at Grand Blanc,” explained Caine. “It’s a business club that presents their businesses to potential investors. Officiating is a side hobby that I want to pursue. Next year I plan on attending college and with officiating, I can take that with me wherever I go.”
Tannar said the ultimate goal of the Legacy program is to get the word out to recruit more teens like Caine.
“The main reason we are looking to grow our officials program is because we have such an officiating shortage all over the country,” said Tannar. “Not many of us are under the age of 40. The average age of our officials is mid to upper 50s. If we don’t recruit and get them working now, we’re going to be faced with a shortage of officials.”
“It really began when they switched girls basketball (to winter) and everyone tries to play triple headers on Tuesday and Friday,” explained Tannar. “I need 42 officials in one night to fill the six schools I assign for the KLAA.”
Tannar noted that in 2012 the GCOA qualified 125 officials to work in MHSAA tournaments. This year that number dropped to 84.
“Mentoring the rookie officials such as Caine is a big responsibility," said Morley, who is one of three officiating trainers in the area. He’s been officiating in the Saginaw Valley League, Flint Metro League, Genesee Area Conference and KLAA.
“This year we were in an ad for the MHSAA, and Jason was one that responded. He was looking for something other than working at McDonald’s. I told him the MHSAA has a program in place to train officials,” said Morley, who found his own path to the MHSAA officials program as an adult.
Morley also spoke to the number of officials needed.
“We figured for the Saginaw Valley plus the Thumb area and into where Steve is (KLAA), somewhere between 300 and 400 officials are needed on a given Tuesday or Friday,” Morley said.
Officiating isn’t easy, as it’s about more than just calling the games, noted Tannar.
“The number one reason for quitting officiating is the fans and their reactions, not the coaches or players,” Tannar said.
Mark Uyl, assistant director for the MHSAA and its coordinator for officials, echoed that. He’s seen the profession take its hits over the past five years.
“The biggest challenge in officiating is it’s a thankless job,” Uyl said. “We are expected to be perfect on our first day. But you can’t play without officials, so our culture needs to rethink how we are acting as fans in the athletic arena. We are in an angrier society right now and until that trend reverses itself, we face that challenge.”
“So much of officiating is handling people, managing emotions. If we can keep getting people of all ages interested in our officiating program, we can continue to put quality officials at all levels of games – youth sports, junior high through high school and into the college games,” Uyl said.
The fans were one of Caine’s first concerns.
“It was a little nervy at first, but when I got up there, Shawn was a great partner and assured me everything was OK no matter what the outcome,” said Caine. “My background at the clinics and Rules School gave me the confidence.”
Morley explained the importance of teaming up rookies with veterans.
“That’s why this training is so important. If Jason and these others didn’t have us to learn from, lean on, fans can be brutal. Part of our training is how to combat or ignore the angry fans and block that out and do what we need to do in these games. Our job is protect our rookies in their first couple of years to help everyone handle the heat of the moment. We can’t lose someone because of the ugliness that often goes on around us,” said Morley.
The money isn’t bad either. Morley and Uyl said refs can pick up anywhere from $35 to $65 on any given night.
"Many don’t realize how good the money is in officiating,” said Uyl. “After school jobs are $9-10 dollars an hour. (Officiating), they can make $35 in one game.
Tannar said the plan is to turn up recruiting another couple of notches into the next year.
“Next year we want to get into the schools and do a presentation to an all-level program at every school. If I can get one or two kids, that gets us 40 new officials.”
Uyl is grandfathering in Legacy Official students for free, saving them money on the typical registration fees.
More clinics are planned for the Legacy Officials program in the spring and fall of 2017.
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 29, 2016, edition of the Swartz Creek View and is reprinted with permission.
PHOTOS: (Top) Veteran official Shawn Waterman (left) stands with Grand Blanc senior Jason Caine during Caine's first game as an MHSAA referee Nov. 30. (Middle) Caine monitors the action during the junior high game in Hartland. (Photos courtesy of Steve Tannar.)