Legacy Families Bolstering North's Officiating Ranks
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
March 12, 2021
When Marc Crossman was attending middle and high school at Benzie Central, he didn’t attempt a shot. He never blocked a shot either.
For that matter, the 2019 grad was never charged with a foul or a violation, nor credited with an assist.
Today, he uses the fitness he’s kept up from his track and cross country days at Benzie to call fouls and violations. And, nearly every day, he assists high school boys and girls on basketball courts all over Northern Michigan.
Crossman is one of very few young MHSAA basketball officials in the north. He is also among a handful of father-son basketball and other sports officials calling Northern Michigan home.
“I tell you what man, I was probably the most dedicated fan in high school,” he said. “I went to all the home games. All the away games, boys, girls.
“When I was in high school, I was obsessed with the game of basketball.”
Crossman did play elementary basketball. He tried out for the Huskies middle school team but wasn’t chosen.
“That was the end of my basketball career,” proclaimed Crossman, who also officiates football. “And then it started up again when I was a junior when my dad (Don) roped me into the whole legacy thing with officiating.
The MHSAA’s Legacy Student Officials Program is open to any high school student at least 14 years of age. Freshman and sophomore student officials may officiate at the junior high/middle school level only, and junior and senior student officials may officiate at any subvarsity level.
The Legacy Program pairs a student with a mentor official, which can be set up through direct contact with an official the student knows, or with help from the student’s athletic director in making contact with a local approved officials association. Lucky for Crossman, he did know someone, his father Don, an assignor for the Northern Michigan Sports Officials Association.
Don is a nine-year veteran official registered in baseball, softball, volleyball and football. He’s aware of the severe shortage of officials in general, but keenly aware most officials are closer to retiring than starting on the hard court. He’s enjoyed working with his son and assigning him with others.
He also has the good fortune of having other father-son combinations to assign. Among them are Tom and Ben Post and John and Jayden O’Hagan. Ben Post and Jayden O’Hagan also started in the Legacy Program, with Ben among the first to take part.
Tom Post has been a registered official for 48 years and honored with MHSAA Finals assignments. John O’Hagan has 36 years of basketball experience and registered for baseball and softball spanning two decades.
All of those fathers and sons indicate they enjoy working together and with other partners, but note officiating comes with some challenges.
Most come from fans and coaches rarely seeing a young referee in the crew.
“There have been a few games where the coaches just seem to get in his (Jayden’s) ear more than the experienced official,” said his father. “My fear is that Jayden — and all other referees — might one day say ‘I had enough of getting screamed at all the time and want to quit.’
“We talk to coaches, we explain their youth and that we are teaching and trying to recruit more young officials,” John O’Hagan continued. “Recruiting is difficult enough encouraging people to get registered; however, when the coaches and fans simply forget it is just a game, that we are human and we will make mistakes, their behavior can deter folks from becoming a referee.”
With ongoing support and teaching from his father and regular partner Dave Nemecek, Jayden is excited to hit the court after his days as a college student.
“My dad has taught me everything I know when it comes to the game and rules side of it,” noted the 19-year-old O’Hagan. “He’s always watching me and having me do certain things to make sure that I’m doing the best I can.
“So when there’s nights I’m just not having it or am not doing good, he makes sure to let me know,” he continued. “He always keeps me on top of my game.”
The assignor Crossman enjoys helping his son navigate the referee waters.
“It is awesome, very cool,” he said. “It is fun to see him grow. It is a challenge for me to help him grow.”
Ben Post is among a significant number of Northern Michigan referees not officiating during the current pandemic. He had been on the hard court every year since graduating from college and starting to teach at age 24 in 2004.
“I absorbed his (my father’s) officiating philosophy pretty much through osmosis, and as a result we call a pretty similar game, although I have no hope of matching his competence or consistency,” Ben Post pointed out. “My dad is most in his element while working a game, and I’ve cherished every opportunity to watch and study him in that element, first as a fan and then while working alongside him.”
The pandemic has younger northern referees like Gabriel Wise, Gabe Janowiak, Brandon Nichols, Marc Crossman and Jayden O’Hagan perhaps finding themselves in tougher assignments than they anticipated this early in their careers.
“Now you’re in it,” Don Crossman said of the opportunities taken on by the younger refs. “You’ve proved yourself on a fast track.
“You’re just one of the guys now,” he continued. “It is real exciting.”
Younger referees are becoming a welcome site nowadays for coaches and athletic directors.
“When a crew comes to the gym and there are officials of varying ages, the diversity provides credibility to the crew as a whole,” said Steve Graetz, Benzie’s athletic director.
Graetz is filled with pride when he sees the youthful Crossman on the court, especially knowing he started doing many middle school games at Benzie in the Legacy Program.
“It was a safe environment in which Marc could learn the craft,” Graetz said. “To see him now regularly officiating high school games at varying levels on a regular basis speaks as much to the hard work he has put into learning and improving as it does to the accommodating format and structure of the Legacy Program.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) MHSAA officials Don Crossman, left, and his son Marc. (Middle) Ben Post, top left, with father Tom Post and son James. (Below) Jayden O’Hagan, left, and his father Jon O’Hagan. (Courtesy photos.)
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.)