Former Cardinal Mooney Coach Earns Breslin Return as Official
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
March 31, 2022
Jim McAndrews felt anxious and excited both times he was on the floor during basketball Finals weekend at the Breslin Center.
But those feelings were a bit different as an assistant coach at Marine City Cardinal Mooney in 2010 than they were as a referee this year.
“It was different because I was worried about myself (as a referee) versus having to worry about high school kids and not making a mistake to screw it up for them (as a coach),” McAndrews said. “This was a little less pressure than that. With refereeing, you kind of just worry about yourself.”
McAndrews served as the head official in the Division 2 Girls Semifinal between Grand Rapids West Catholic and Detroit Country Day on March 18. That Breslin appearance came 12 years after he was an assistant for his brother, Mike McAndrews, during Mooney’s runner-up run in Class D boys in 2010.
He also coached with his sister, Susan Everhart, who led the Mooney girls to the Semifinals in 2008 and a runner-up finish in 2009. Those tournaments ended at Eastern Michigan University, but all of them gave him a rare look at the experience from two very different angles.
“I wasn’t walking in blindly,” McAndrew said. “I think what helps me in my officiating duties is having been there and knowing what the coaches are expecting and what they need. I think that helps me to communicate things to them. Being (at Breslin as a coach) and seeing that helped.”
McAndrews has been reffing since leaving his brother’s staff in 2011. That ended a long run in coaching which started in 1989 when he was an assistant coach at Mooney under Dave Jackson. After one season in that role, he took over the program and coached the Cardinals for a decade. That included coaching his brother, who he would later coach with for another eight years.
It didn’t even take a full season for him to get back on the court, albeit in a different role, after leaving the coaching ranks.
“I missed the game,” Jim McAndrews said. “Refereeing gives you an opportunity to get your competitive juices going a little bit. You get a little exercise, and the relationships you get to make are amazing. There’s nothing like being in the gym and talking hoops with other like-minded people: junkies. Basketball junkies. It’s a community, and it’s a really good community. We all want good stuff for the kids, and we want to help out. Plus, I enjoy seeing the local talent.”
McAndrews, whose full-time job is in automotive supply sales, refs mostly in the Metro Detroit area and the Thumb, working games in the Catholic League, Macomb Area Conference and Blue Water Area Conference.
Being a referee has not only allowed him to stay in the game and the high school basketball community, but it’s also introduced him to new people who have the same love for the game.
“This community really is special,” he said. “We’re not in it to get rich. We’re in it because we’re passionate about the game.”
This year’s Semifinal was his first, and he was joined on the court by Jerry Armstrong and Douglas Richardson. It was the trio’s first time together.
“That can be part of the challenge,” McAndrews said. “You have to be able to adapt to other people’s way of doing things that you’ve never met before. That’s part of it. It’s about officiating the game as well as challenging yourself.”
Another challenge of refereeing during Finals weekend is the increase of eyes on the game, and the extra pressure that can bring.
“In this particular case, it was my first time (reffing) on TV,” McAndrews said. “There’s commentators with replays, and there are different responsibilities in regard to timeouts. There was a little anxiety. I said to my partners that I’m just going to try to smile, be in the moment and enjoy it, because it’s been a crazy couple years. But your peers are watching, other referees are watching, and they’ll let you know if you miss something.”
The game went off without any issues, and the experience ended up being even better than McAndrews expected, as his kids were able to be on the court with him.
“It was fantastic,” he said. “I can’t think of a better word for it. My family was able to get involved, and we had first-class accommodations. My kids were able to be the ball boy and the water guy for me, so this wasn’t just for me. We were very appreciative of it all, and it was really, really fun.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Jim McAndrews works this season’s Division 2 Semifinals between Grand Rapids West Catholic and Detroit Country Day. (Middle) McAndrews, kneeling lower left, serves as an assistant coach during Cardinal Mooney’s run to Breslin in 2010. (Top photo by Hockey Weekly Action Photos; middle courtesy the McAndrews family.)
VanderVelde Officiating Tree Branches Into 2nd Generation, Top-Tier College Football
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2025
Mike VanderVelde always knew the apple wasn't going to fall far from the tree.
The longtime West Michigan football and basketball official correctly guessed that his son, Michael, who had accompanied his father to countless Friday night football games before he was even out of elementary school, would eventually pick up the family mantle of officiating. VanderVelde said he saw in his young son many of the key attributes an official must possess: a keen eye for details, an overwhelming desire to improve, patience and a love of sports.
Put it all together, and VanderVelde has seen his son evolve into one of the nation's top NCAA football officials.
"I think it was just like with any kid, he liked the competition," said Mike VanderVelde, who retired three years ago at the age of 78 after officiating in the Grand Rapids area for 61. "I guess it would be crazy to say now, but even then there was something about Michael that was going to make him a good official. It wasn't (following) me."
Michael, a Grandville High School and Hope College graduate, has gone from working middle school football games to make extra money in college to officiating eight college bowl games, including this year's Sugar Bowl national quarterfinal Jan. 2 in New Orleans and the semifinal Jan. 9 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. VanderVelde's first bowl game was the 2017 Bahamas Bowl, and he also officiated the 2024 Rose Bowl, the national semifinal between eventual champion Michigan and Alabama.
Before reaching those heights, Michael said some of his earliest sporting moments came when he was a ball boy jogging along the sideline while his father was working on the field. VanderVelde figures he was barely 8 years old, but he remembers being taught by his father to pay attention to detail. He also considers his father a major influence in his decision to pursue football officiating at the highest level.
"I'd buy that, absolutely. I loved spending time with my dad on Friday nights. That was definitely a common bonding time,” Michael VanderVelde said. “I'd see the smile on his face and see his passion for football. I'd see subtle little hints, and I'd pick up on that. The seed was definitely planted.”
Even as a youngster who was yet to see middle school, Michael said he understood the necessity of being where he was supposed to be as a ball boy. It was one of his first lessons in accepting responsibility and that actions had consequences.
"I would hand the ball to the umpire and pay attention to the game, and do what they needed me to do," he said. "And then I'd hang out with the crew after the games. Just being around the game and watching and being close to it, I loved it."
Both VanderVeldes entered officiating on the ground floor. Mike began doing YMCA fifth and sixth grade and church league basketball games at Grand Rapids' Franklin Park during the 1950s. He eventually graduated to working about 75 high school football and basketball games a year along with officiating Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association football games. VanderVelde also coached football, tennis and junior high basketball at Wyoming Kelloggsville High School for 30 years.
"I've always been involved with athletics; I've really enjoyed it," Mike said. "I always thought of (officiating) as a challenge. I wanted to see what I could do. It intrigued me, trying something new. It just clicked with me, and I kept going and I never really stopped."
The younger VanderVelde also started at the youngest levels, officiating fourth through sixth-grade football games before he graduated from high school in 2003. Then to make extra money while in college, VanderVelde took on freshman, junior varsity and his first varsity football game at Saranac. He eventually worked high school basketball games before moving to Colorado and doing Southland Conference games for three years beginning in 2013. VanderVelde went on to work for three years in the Mountain West Conference and now officiates Big 12 games while living in Louisiana.
While many fans often fail to grasp the pressures an official faces while working major college football bowl games, VanderVelde said he's thrilled to reach that elite level of officiating.
"It's a blast," he said. "To be there with other officials and doing things like working with the replays, getting the calls correct, 11 on 11 football and being on the biggest stage, I love it."
As for the recently completed college season, VanderVelde was honored that the NCAA – in a rare break from tradition – chose his crew to work back-to-back Notre Dame games in the Sugar and Rose Bowls. The NCAA typically will not assign the same crew to the same team two weeks in a row. It was an extraordinary gesture signaling the high esteem in which the crew is held, not only by the NCAA but with the blessing of all teams involved.
"It's tough to work back-to-back games like that, but I think the crew did an excellent job," he said. "There was no controversy, and I think we felt comfortable being assigned those games."
Considering his officiating success, VanderVelde said there is one step yet to take, one more hurdle to leap: the NFL. VanderVelde. who works United Football League games in the spring, has been part of the league's Mackie Development Program for the last two years. He's already worked Hula Bowl games and would gladly consider moving along to working on Sundays.
"I'd love to have that opportunity if it was ever presented to me," he said. "It'd be cool, but there are no guarantees. You know that snap by snap, you're only as good as your last game. But it's something I'd like to do some day.
"In football all you can do is look at your next assignment and try to do it well. It's exciting, but you're always trying to go on to the next game without a hitch."
PHOTOS (Top) Longtime MHSAA official Mike VanderVelde, left, and son Michael share a moment during Michael’s officiating assignment at the 2021 Outback Bowl in Tampa Bay, Fla. (Middle) Mike VanderVelde officiates a Grandville High school game. (Below) From left: Mike VanderVelde, Michael VanderVelde, and Michael’s son Hayden. (Photos provided by the VanderVelde family.)