2023 Officials Awards Recognize Nearly 400, Including Norris & Paulson Honorees
By
Jon Ross
MHSAA Director of Broadcast Properties
August 7, 2023
This year's Officials Awards & Alumni Banquet recognized 397 officials who celebrated a milestone year of MHSAA registration during 2022-23, plus honored a highly-respected mentor and a young official with a tremendous future in the avocation.
Longtime Jackson-area official Chuck Walters was named the Vern L. Norris Award honoree for his decades of service not just on the field but recruiting and helping to retain officials. Recent Mackinaw City graduate Madison Smith received the Randy Paulson Legacy Award and has officiated junior varsity basketball and volleyball over the last year as part of the MHSAA Legacy Program.
This year's honorees included 24 officials with 50 years of service, along with 36 officials with 45 years, and a 40-year award has been presented to 51 officials. In addition, 110 officials with 30 years and 176 officials with 20 years of registration were honored.
Be The Referee: Tournament Selection
November 11, 2020
This week, MHSAA assistant director Brent Rice explains how officials are selected for assignments during the MHSAA Football Playoffs.
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment - Tournament Selection - Listen
Today we are going to talk about how officials are selected for the MHSAA Football Playoffs. Just as the best teams advance in the tournament week after week, the best officiating crews advance in the tournament in much the same way.
For a crew to be eligible for assignment, many requirements have to be met prior to the season – submission of their season schedule, making sure that the crew has completed the annual rules meeting, as well as a football rules test.
Much weight is given to ratings – each crew is rated by schools following each game – as well as observation reports where officiating experts go out and either watch crews work live or on video in making sure that the best crews advance throughout the tournament
Past editions
11/5: You Make the Call: Missed Field Goals - Listen
10/29: Automatic 1st Downs - Listen
10/22: You Make the Call: Illegal Kick - Listen
10/15: Toe the Line on Penalty Kicks - Listen
10/8: Disconcerting Acts - Listen
10/1: Ball Hits Soccer Referee - Listen
9/24: Clocking the Ball from the Shotgun - Listen