90 Years of Making the Right Calls
November 7, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Beryl Hager read something about officiating recently that struck him.
People will never forget a bad call, and they’ll never remember a good one.
“That’s the way it is,” the longtime official from Marlette said. “Realistically, everyone makes a bad call.”
But the calls, good and bad, are not what Hager and longtime partner Vern Geister will remember most from their combined 90 years in Michigan high school athletics, which "tentatively" came to an end this fall.
The former high school classmates have a standing dinner double date with their wives. When that time comes, they’ll each celebrate more than four decades as MHSAA officials, including many years working side-by-side on the football field and most recently the volleyball court.
Hager, 74, has been an official since 1967 – a stretch of 46 years. Geister, 81, served his 44th this fall.
Frequently working five days a week over the decades, they've facilitated hundreds of games and benefited thousands of athletes, mostly in the Thumb area. They've officiated Capac’s volleyball invitational over the tenures of three athletic directors. Hager worked basketball games in the school’s Harry C. Moore Gymnasium when Moore was the basketball coach – Moore died in 1986.
“They have just great attitudes. They’re always wonderful with our kids,” Capac athletic director Arnie VandeMark said. “And you just wouldn't believe the stories they told us. They've been here a long time.”
A book full of memories
Hager wishes he’d kept a diary of his officiating career, which began in 1967.
Some of his most vivid memories are perhaps not what you’d expect.
“I saw some dreadful injuries,” he said. “I saw a young man break a thigh bone, and he was in shock and didn't feel any pain. One night at a volleyball match, a girl broke her ankle, came down on somebody’s foot. One night at a basketball game, two guys were playing and one jumped up and the other was behind him, trailing him, and four teeth went flying through the air. The front one came down on his back, the other came down on his face. Both were out.”
But the far greater number of his football, basketball, volleyball and baseball games were without incident – just as an official would have them.
Hager always enjoyed sports. He was involved in Little League baseball and has taught Sunday school at his church for 55 years. Officiating seemed a great way to blend his enjoyment of sports and people.
Plus it worked into his schedule. He could pick up games that didn't conflict with his jobs in farming and later facility maintenance. His son graduated in 1983, and aside from one half of one football game, he didn't miss an event. For a short while at the start, Hager's his wife Lois officiated with him.
He also was among pioneers in one of his sports, officiating volleyball from its MHSAA start in 1976. He’s worked a number of District tournaments and a handful of Regionals over the years – and like many things over 45 seasons, watched that sport come a long way.
“I didn't know anything about it. Nor did anyone else,” Hager said. “It’s changed tremendously in the last 35 years. When we started, if they could get the ball over the net, and hit it back, we were doing really well. Now, one guys told me volleyball is not a game. It’s a science.”
A natural fit
Geister really wanted to coach.
He’d done so for his son’s little league baseball team for five years, but knew his chances to continue were few. At that point in time during the 1950s, nearly all coaches also were teachers.
Before retiring in 1997, Geister worked first in the mobile home industry, then for the Kroger company before serving for more than 16 years as a Sanilac County magistrate. Officiating seemed like the next best way to stay involved with athletics.
“It was kind of a natural thing to get started,” he said.
“I think it makes you feel younger than you really are, just being with the athletes.”
Geister, who had caught for the Marlette baseball team before graduating in 1949, began officiating that sport before picking up football, basketball, softball and eventually volleyball. He got heaviest into that last after a knee replacement in 1997 made it difficult to keep up on the football field and basketball court.
But he did have a chance to officiate at the highest high school level, working the 1983 Class D Football Final at the Pontiac Silverdome between St. Ignace and Mendon. Geister also officiated Semifinals and some high-level baseball playoffs.
One football Regional sticks out most. Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port and now-closed Detroit DePorres matched up at Flint’s Atwood Stadium. A storm had come through and dropped a good amount of snow. That was cleared, but a sheet of ice was left behind.
Back then, four people made up an officiating crew – now it is five – which would've made keeping up with the players pretty tough. The good news, perhaps, was that the players had a hard time keeping upright on the slippery turf as well.
Remembering a third partner
Geister said for him, the best part of officiating has been the friends he’s had the opportunity to make and maintain over the years.
They'll always remember a third partner who died in 1978.
Classmate Andy McSkulin had been a freshman at Marlette when Geister was a senior in 1948-49 and a senior when Hager was a freshman. He became an MHSAA official around the same time those two started up.
The three did a number of games together and worked on the same football crew at times. They knew each other well before, but got to know each other even better.
Hager has never gotten riled easily, and gave out only a few technical fouls over the years. But he remembered working a basketball game with McSkulin during which his partner knew Hager was about to assess one – McSkulin “said he could see the fire in my eyes.”
More to come?
For the last 15 seasons, Hager and Geister have worked volleyball matches together. They bring a professional but fun atmosphere to their games.
They’re known for joking with each other. They've never had an argument.
And although Geister doesn't completely agree, Hager said he and his partner’s retirement is only tentative. They've discussed coming back for a few junior varsity or junior high games next fall.
Neither belongs to a local officials association or has a computer. But both have still gotten calls from local athletic directors like VandeMark, who appreciate their knowledge and approach in working their games.
“I think what you enjoy is having the respect of the players and coaches,” Geister said. “I think you get to the point where it’s the pride of feeling you've done your best, done a good job and that they appreciate it.”
PHOTO: Officials Beryl Hager (left) and Vern Geister are congratulated by members of the Capac freshman, junior varsity and varsity volleyball teams while being honored for their combined 90 years of service during a match last month. (Photo courtesy of Capac athletics.)
Norris Winner Hoover Elite on All Levels
April 15, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Linda Hoover always had aspired to become a coach, and her class schedule at Olivet College during the late 1970s reflected that goal.
But at the suggestion of one of her advisors, Hoover added an officiating class one term. That same advisor soon needed a partner to officiate a volleyball match a few blocks down the road at Olivet High School – and Hoover found herself registering with the MHSAA the day before the first serve.
“I was scared as heck,” Hoover recalled this week. “I was going up the ladder for the varsity match, and I said, ‘It’s my first one!’ But she was kind enough … and I knew what I was doing. I was comfortable, and I truly enjoyed it.”
Nearly four decades later, Hoover has officiated eight MHSAA Volleyball Finals and seven Softball Finals – in addition to serving as an umpire at four NCAA Division I College World Series, nine Amateur Softball Association Nationals and four softball World Cups. She also has officiated at the Olympic Trials and China’s Republican National Games, and is scheduled to work the USA Junior Olympic Cup this summer in Georgia.
Admired as a pioneer in officiating, especially by women who have followed in taking up the avocation, she also continues to serve Michigan at the high school level as an umpire, clinician and mentor, and has been selected to receive the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Vern L. Norris Award for 2016.
The Norris Award is presented annually to a veteran official who has been active in a local officials association, has mentored other officials, and has been involved in officials’ education. It is named for Vern L. Norris, who served as executive director of the MHSAA from 1978-86 and was well-respected by officials on the state and national levels.
Hoover will be honored at the Officials’ Awards & Alumni Banquet on April 30 at the Crowne Plaza Lansing West in Lansing. She is in her 36th year as an MHSAA-registered official, working softball and volleyball in addition to softball at the collegiate, national and international levels.
A teacher at Marshall from fall 1982 until her retirement at the end of the 2013-14 school year, Hoover also has served as a clinician for numerous softball and volleyball officiating clinics and as a clinician and officials evaluator during the MHSAA Softball Finals. She has contributed on various MHSAA committees and assisted at the MHSAA Volleyball Finals, and also served as a facilitator and speaker at the MHSAA’s Women in Sports Leadership Conference.
“I’ll never forget when I was still a rookie official, I’d been in it four or five years, and I was going to a high school softball game. A couple of girls were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we have a female official,’” Hoover said. “They’d never seen a female umpire.
“I want to present a positive role model, a positive experience for those who might want to get into (officiating).
Hoover graduated from Constantine High School in 1977 and Olivet College in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and minors in communications and psychology. She lettered in field hockey, basketball, softball and volleyball during her college athletic career, and is a sports Hall of Fame member for both her high school and college.
Hoover went on to earn her master’s degree in athletic administration and an endorsement in health education, both from Western Michigan University. At Marshall, she taught primarily freshman health education and also classes in physical education and child psychology.
She also did get that opportunity to coach, first middle school volleyball at the former Wattles Park (now Battle Creek Harper Creek), then junior varsity softball and middle school basketball at Marshall. But she found she enjoyed officiating more than coaching – and also found the avocation to be her “niche” and a place where she could make an impression on female athletes in particular.
“Linda Hoover is considered by her peers as one of the elite softball umpires in this country, and she continues to share her gifts with athletes and coaches at our level while serving as an inspiration for many aspiring officials,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. Jack Roberts said. “She has provided decades of leadership and commitment to her craft. And as during her many years of classroom teaching, Linda is a tireless, understanding and energetic instructor as she works with officials seeking to reach toward her high level of expertise.”
Hoover also has been inducted into the Michigan Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame and has received recognition as an “Elite Umpire” by ASA/USA, and attained the gold level of the ASA Umpire Medals Program. She was awarded membership in the ASA’s National Indicator Fraternity and certification by the International Softball Federation.
About half of the games she currently officiates are at the high school level; she also continues to officiate in the Mid-American Conference and has worked in the Big Ten, Big East and Missouri Valley conferences among others as well.
Hoover also contributes to her community as a volunteer for Marshall Area Community Services – she is a past board member for the program – and volunteers as well for the Marshall Fountain Clinic.
Past recipients of the Norris Award
1992 – Ted Wilson, East Detroit
1993 – Fred Briggs, Burton
1994 – Joe Brodie, Flat Rock
1995 – Jim Massar, Flint
1996 – Jim Lamoreaux, St. Ignace
1997 – Ken Myllyla, Escanaba
1998 – Blake Hagman, Kalamazoo
1999 – Richard Kalahar, Jackson
2000 – Barb Beckett, Traverse City; Karl Newingham, Bay City
2001 – Herb Lipschultz, Kalamazoo
2002 – Robert Scholie, Hancock
2003 – Ron Nagy, Hazel Park
2004 – Carl Van Heck, Grand Rapids
2005 – Bruce Moss, Alma
2006 – Jeanne Skinner, Grand Rapids
2007 – Terry Wakeley, Grayling
2008 – Will Lynch, Honor
2009 – James Danhoff, Richland
2010 – John Juday, Sr., Petoskey
2011 – Robert Williams, Redford
2012 – Lyle Berry, Rockford
2013 – Tom Minter, Okemos
2014 – Hugh R. Jewell, West Bloomfield
2015 – Sam Davis, Lansing
High school game officials with 20, 30, 40, 45 and 50 years of service also will be honored at the Officials’ Awards & Alumni Banquet on April 30.
Six officials with 50 or more years of service will be honored, along with 34 officials with 45 years. A 40-year award will be presented to 68 officials. In addition, 108 officials with 30 years and 193 officials with 20 years of experience will be honored. With the induction of this year’s group of 409, the honor roll of officials who have aided young student-athletes grows to 10,197 since the inception of the banquet in 1980.
Tickets for the banquet are available to the public and priced at $20. They will not be sold at the door. Tickets can be ordered by calling the MHSAA office at (517) 332-5046 or by sending the order form. Click for a full list of officials who will be honored.
PHOTOS: (Top) Linda Hoover watches a play unfold during an MHSAA Softball Final. (Middle) Hoover works one of her eight MHSAA Volleyball Finals.
VIDEO: Linda Hoover was one of many officials who answered the question "Why Do You Officiate?" for this MHSAA series.