Former Official in League of Her Own

September 26, 2018

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Retired MHSAA official Dolly Konwinski – previously a player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League who consulted on the 1992 film “A League of Their Own” – died Saturday at the age of 87.

Konwinski umpired both baseball and softball as an MHSAA registered official for more than a dozen years into the 1990s. She brought to the diamond playing experience from the AAGPBL; she played for four teams between 1948-52, including most of three seasons with the Grand Rapids Chicks.

The AAGPBL has been honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and Konwinski consulted on and made a brief appearance in “A League of Their Own,” which was nominated for Grammy and Golden Globe awards.

She most recently lived in Caledonia and is survived by her husband of 63 years Robert and four children, plus many grandchildren and extended family.

Click for recent Grand Rapids Press coverage of her death. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Kentwood. Click for her obituary.

The feature below, reported by Rick Berkey, aired as part of the coverage of the 1990 MHSAA Girls Basketball Finals on PASS Sports.

Be the Referee: Field Hockey Basics

By Paige Winne
MHSAA Marketing & Social Media Coordinator

September 3, 2025

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 – Field Hockey Basics - Listen

Field Hockey is now a fully sponsored MHSAA sport. So let’s start by getting up to speed on some basics.

Field Hockey is a fall sport.

Games are administered by two officials.

Each team plays with 11 players on the field – including the goalkeeper.

The field is 100 yards by 60 yards – roughly the same size as a football field.

The goals are 12 feet wide and seven feet high, with the penalty stroke line being drawn seven yards in front of the center of the goal.

Players are not allowed to play the ball with the rounded side of the stick – nor are they allowed to charge, hit, shove, or trip an opposing player.

Field hockey games are 60 minutes long, played in four 15-minute quarters.

Previous 2025-26 editions

Aug. 26: Golf Ball Bounces Out - Listen

PHOTO by Jamie Crawford/JC Sports Photography.