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Profiles and stories about officials and people close to officiating.
6 Transcendent Moments for Sports Officials
For some of us, officiating is a vocation, for others it is an avocation. For almost all of us, however, it is a passion that offers feelings of...
‘I’m Still Here’
A boy with hoop dreams, the scope of which he could never have comprehended would one day come to fruition during those halcyon days...
Referee Voices: Bert Smith
As part of the 2021 NASO Sports Officiating Summit @ Home, NCAAM basketball referee Bert Smith detailed for the virtual audience his career path...
Ten Basketball Officials, One Family
I t's ten basketball officials, one family as Cal Von Rueden, 15, recently joined the ranks of this basketball officiating dynasty in the greater Milwaukee...
Ability, Not Disability
will Fried, a basketball official in the Wichita, Kan., area, recently earned a degree in conflict analysis and resolution, which on the surface makes...
“Reggie The Ref” Is More Than Just a Nickname
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Nicknames are part of sports. “Hammerin’ Hank.” “The Greek Freak.” “A-Rod.” Sports officials go the same route.
“Reggie the Ref.” Catchy nickname,...
Ron Garretson: A Life in Officiating
With the ‘Godfather of NBA officials’ as his father, Ron Garretson learned from one of the best in the business. Then he made a...
Home Bruns
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tiger Woods and Randy Bruns have more in common than you might expect. All three have been to the pinnacle of their...
Feats of Clay
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As the always dapper Clay Martin takes his seat on his team’s bench at the Frank Herald...
Kelly Dine Covers All The Bases
The year 2020 was, well, not a great one for many people.
But at least Kelly Elliott Dine had wonderful memories of 2019 to comfort...
Hall of Famer June Courteau has Left an Amazing Mark on Women’s Basketball Officiating
A well-read woman with an insatiable desire to cram yet more knowledge into her mind was sitting poolside at an Aruba timeshare dwelling in the summer of 2015. Simply reading doesn’t...
5 Minutes with Karen Preato
Hometown: Greensboro, N.C.
Experience: Started officiating at the college level in 1998 and entered the D-I ranks in 2003. Currently works in the Atlantic 10, Atlantic...
Frank DeFord, Longtime Supporter of Sports Officials, Dies At 78
We at Referee magazine and the National Association of Sports Officials are much saddened by the passing of Frank DeFord. Frank received accolades, honors...
Dale Scott Redemption
Half sleep-walking through darkness to the refrigerator in his Santo Domingo apartment in the dead of night in January 1986, all Dale Scott wanted...
Iowa Wrestling Community Helps Official Get to Championships
In Iowa, wrestling is practically a family affair, almost a religion.
It’s a place where every kid with a little ability and a steely attitude...
Long Journey from Minors to MLB World Series
As their school bus approached their home on Holman Avenue that November morning in 1986, Chris Guccione and little brother Steven were distracted by...
“I’ll Never Forget”: Officiating Legends Recall Their Most Memorable Game
It is June 14, 1998, at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The Chicago Bulls are playing the Utah Jazz in Game 6...
NFL Line Judge Jeff Bergman is All Business
Just as Jeff Bergman was starting to relax under the soothing stream of warm water that early spring afternoon in 1983, he was startled...
Back From The Blindside
Veteran football official Robert Watts
was recently elected president of the Austin (Texas) Football Officials Association (AFOA). It is all part of moving on with...
Former MLB Umpire Larry Young Brings Training to the World
Larry Young retired as an MLB umpire at the close of the 2007 season, bringing down the curtain on a career that spanned 24...
Silent Stands Teach Us A Valuable Lesson
The 2020 New Mexico Activities Association (NMAA) State Basketball Championships were able to conclude last March, crowning 10 boys’ and girls’ state champions. The...
Carl Cheffers: A Family Man
To Carl Cheffers, officiating has always been a family affair.
From being introduced to the avocation by his father, who had an impressive career as...
Roger Ayers: Trials By Fire
With flames raging beyond a door he emotionally prepared to enter with his partner, Roger Ayers tightened his hands around the fire hose that was about to be activated...
Pati Rolf Moved From College Coach to High Level Official and Has Never Looked...
A lime green toy pig, gifted to Pati Rolf by the distraught motorist who accidentally struck her on snowy Minnetonka Boulevard in Hopkins, Minn., nearly 50 years ago, endures all...
