Minter's Contributions Worth a Mint
April 9, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Tom Minter admits his wife Linda knows the spiel well. She's been hearing it spun for years.
The recently-retired MHSAA assistant director might be chatting up a recent grad at his or her high school open house, or talking with a former athlete whose playing days are done but love for a sport hasn't waned.
“When I recruit officials, I tell them, ‘Hey, you can stay in a game you know something about. It’s good exercise. You stay with the kids, who help keep you young, and it’s one of the few hobbies that pays you,’” Minter said.
He knows all to be true after 48 years running the fields and courts of Michigan’s high schools, and more than a half-century total as a referee and umpire who worked his most recent girls soccer game just a few days ago in Ovid-Elsie.
Minter, an official for nine MHSAA Finals and longtime clinician and trainer of referees and umpires all over the state, has been selected to receive the MHSAA’s Vern L. Norris Award for 2013.
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. Minter will be honored at the Officials’ Awards & Alumni Banquet on May 4 at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing.
Minter also worked at the MHSAA’s home office from September 1995 through January 2012 and so knows or is familiar with just about every Norris winner before him – making this award extra meaningful.
While the desire to remain part of the games after his playing career ended led to Minter’s early involvement, the opportunity to pass on what he’s learned keeps him immersed in the officiating community.
“Hopefully now I’m able to pass some of this on and to encourage, provide the listening ear like people provided to me in the past,” Minter said. “It’s created in me a sense of legacy.
“To be in the company of people like Vern Norris and Dick Kalahar and all the other winners, it’s just the recognition that you’ve made a contribution. That is so satisfying.”
Minter began his officiating career while a student at a U.S. Air Force base high school overseas. Natives of Akron, Ohio, the family followed Minter’s father – who worked for Goodyear Tires – to Scotland in 1958.
Minter played mostly baseball to that point, and didn’t know much about the pastime of his new home – soccer. But on suggestion of his physical education teacher – who also had played pro soccer – Minter took up officiating the sport to fast-forward his education in the game.
Minter refereed his first high school soccer game in 1961, and played at the high school and college levels. After also officiating for a year in Ohio, Minter began officiating in Michigan while a student at Jackson Community College. He graduated from Jackson Community College in 1966 and Michigan State University in 1971, and also served a stint with the U.S. Army.
Minter has worked games in football, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer and baseball and has served as an officials assignor both at the high school and college levels; he currently is secretary for the Greater Lansing Area Soccer Officials Association. He worked five baseball MHSAA Finals, two football and one each in boys and girls soccer before joining the MHSAA staff in 1995 as the selection from nearly 200 candidates for his position.
As part of the announcement that Minter would be joining the staff as assistant to executive director John E. “Jack” Roberts, Roberts compared Minter to a versatile running back – capable of handling a variety of in-office obligations while also able to ‘bounce to the outside’ and assist with administration of sport services to member schools.
Among many contributions as an MHSAA employee, Minter was assistant director in charge of boys and girls soccer and oversaw construction of the MHSAA’s home office, which opened in December 1996. Although retired, he remains a versatile contributor providing assistance to the MHSAA in East Lansing and high school athletics on a national level.
“Tom Minter continues to help with capital improvement projects at the MHSAA office, and he continues to represent the National Federation (NFHS) Officials Association on its Sports Medicine Advisory Committee,” Roberts said. “His many contributions to high school athletics, and especially officiating, continue to be far-reaching. We are delighted to recognize Tom Minter with the Vern L. Norris Award.”
Minter came to the MHSAA after serving as Meridian Township Treasurer for 19 years and also as a volunteer fireman for that community, which includes Haslett and Okemos. Minter was an Ingham County commissioner for six years and served on Meridian Township’s planning commission and zoning board of appeals, and has been a member of the Haslett/Okemos Rotary Club for 36 years – including as its president in 1985-86.
He currently serves as chairperson of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports, a 15-member body established in 1992 that promotes the increase of physical activity and improvement of health for Michigan residents. He was first appointed in February 2012 and serves with Kalamazoo’s Ron Winter, a friend going back to their days at MSU and a current referee in the National Football League.
Minter also continues to work as a Big Ten football replay official and observer of officials for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – for which he served as an on-field official for 25 seasons including eight as crew chief. He also worked in the Mid-American Conference and Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
All allow him to provide a wealth of knowledge to those continuing to hone the officiating craft – especially when it comes to tangible aspects like rules, mechanics and the like.
But working for the MHSAA fulltime gave Minter a unique perspective on the intangibles of officiating at the high school level – like keeping in perspective that athletes are high school students, enjoying athletics as part of the education process.
The value of providing such mentoring will be a significant part of his brief acceptance speech May 4.
“We’re all here because we worked 20, 30, 40, 45, 50 years. What are we doing to ensure our replacements?” Minter said. “That’s what we have to do, to ensure that we leave a replacement.”
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 May 4. 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 available at this link.
Previous 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
PHOTOS: (Top) Longtime official Tom Minter signals a score during a 2010 football game. (Middle) Minter awards Williamston girls soccer coach Jim Flore an MHSAA runner-up trophy in 2010.
Dowagiac Superintendent Continues Connection to Hoops as MHSAA Game Official
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
January 8, 2025
DOWAGIAC – It was about three years ago that Greg Blomgren, a former high school boys basketball coach, realized he needed to find a niche that allowed him to stay connected with the game he grew up loving.
Blomgren, who took over as Dowagiac Community Schools' superintendent July 1, has found the perfect way to fill that void as a registered basketball official for the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
Now in his fourth season working varsity boys and girls games in the Southwestern Michigan area within a 45-mile radius of his home in Sister Lakes, Blomgren enjoys the opportunities officiating has provided him to help bridge the gap between coaches and game officials and continue improving the game of basketball.
“Having been a coach in the past, I am able to better understand things from the coaches' perspective, and that is an advantage for me. I really believe that all coaches should officiate and all officials should coach,” Blomgren said. “It brings about a better level of communication and understanding because you've experienced both sides.
“Back when I was coaching, I know I was sometimes tough on officials. My appreciation of officials grew though in my latter years of coaching. I just really enjoy being part of this game again.”
In January 2021, Blomgren contacted Kalamazoo Officials Association assigners Rob King and Chuck Rawsthorne regarding the process to become a registered MHSAA basketball official. The KOA is responsible for assignors for primarily the Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference, Wolverine Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
After completing his training and necessary exams, Blomgren was assigned four games during his first week that January. He officiated mostly freshman and junior varsity contests in 2021 but was assigned one varsity girls game between Lawton and Vicksburg that season.
"I was really nervous calling my first varsity game, but it went pretty well," Blomgren recalled.
Blomgren steadily increased his officiating schedule to 35 games his second season, then 85-90 games during the 2023-24 campaign at various levels. Since taking the superintendent's job in Dowagiac, Blomgren has reduced his schedule for this season to around 55 games.
"I'm really thankful to Rob and Chuck. They have both done a great job working with me and finding a schedule that works with mostly varsity games that take place later in the evening," Blomgren said.
Blomgren is a 1991 graduate of Des Moines Lincoln High School (Iowa) where he played multiple sports, with a passion for basketball, at the largest school in the state.
He also grew up during the explosion era of the AAU basketball circuit. From age 11 through his high school years, Blomgren had the opportunity to compete on several Iowa state title teams in national tournaments.
"Those teams were a fun and rewarding experience. We went to nationals and faced some competitive teams, including the Michigan Super Friends, a team with future Michigan and NBA standouts Chris Webber and Jalen Rose," Blomgren said. “There were other star players on other teams from various states we faced like Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, Eric Montross and Damon Bailey.”
After graduating high school, Blomgren attended the University of Nebraska-Kearney before transferring to Grandview College, an NAIA school, in Des Moines where he earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1996.
Upon moving to Milwaukee in 1997, Blomgren began substitute teaching and got into coaching basketball at the middle school level. He returned to school around that time and completed his teaching certification from Wisconsin University-Parkside.
Blomgren began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Kenosha St. Joseph (Wisconsin) followed by a similar job at nearby Wilmont High School. Shortly after those two stops, Blomgren landed his first head coaching job at Clear Lake High School in Iowa, where he spent two years.
Blomgren and his wife Angie, a Niles native and daughter of former Niles Brandywine band director Jay Crouch, moved to Michigan after Greg was hired as a science teacher and replaced Al Westendorp as Dowagiac's varsity boys basketball coach. Blomgren served as Dowagiac's boys coach from 2002-09 and spent three years as the head girls basketball coach as well.
Blomgren accepted the position of Dean of Students in St. Joseph, where he replaced Greg Schaffer as the Bears' varsity boys coach and served from 2009-16. Blomgren resigned after the 2015-16 campaign to concentrate on his administrative duties as the assistant high school principal before eventually taking over as the district's high school principal.
"Eventually I had to resign from coaching. There are too many evening activities that you have to be present at and supervise, so I stepped down," Blomgren said. "People don't understand the amount of time you must spend to do it right with practice planning, scouting, watching film and all the time you spend in the offseason trying to give the kids the best opportunity to compete. It’s more time spent than what you become accustomed to seeing from coaches on Tuesday and Friday nights. I don't think I'll ever return to coaching. Right now, it just doesn't fit my schedule."
Blomgren and his wife have three grown children – daughters Alyssa (24) and Avery (20) and 22-year old son Andy, along with one granddaughter Aria.
Blomgren is enjoying his new role as Dowagiac's superintendent and is pleased with the positive things that have taken place during his first few months leading the school district.
"The time we spent here a few years back when I was at Dowagiac helped us develop a lot of good relationships," Blomgren said. “There's a lot of pride that people take in small towns like ours. I knew the people here, and I believe they thought I was someone who could bring some of that culture back to the district. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to do that and make this a district everyone is proud to be a part of.”
The MHSAA has seen a decline in recent years in the number of registered game officials, due in part to poor sportsmanship particularly among adult spectators. But the organization has worked hard in recent years to change that, and participation is on the rise once again.
As an administrator and basketball official, Blomgren sees himself playing a major role in promoting good sportsmanship.
"Good sportsmanship in a school district depends on the leadership in the building. A good athletic director will make sportsmanship a top priority. He or she will make sure their school is going to represent themselves and the school district appropriately," Blomgren said. “If you do that it sets an expectation and tone with the parents, players and people in the community.
“Good sportsmanship is something I believe needs to constantly be improved upon in every district. The $7 you pay at the gate doesn't give you the right to say whatever you want after you walk into the gym. That isn't what high school athletics are about. When I was coaching in St. Joe and Dowagiac, it was always about how we conducted ourselves on the court rather than the number of wins or losses.”
Even in today's age of high technology, Blomgren believes high school athletes still desire to work hard and succeed as a team.
"Kids today want to be good, but they need to realize the time and effort you must put in to be successful," he said. “Schools that win consistently are the ones where everyone on the team shows up and puts in the work both during (the season) and in the offseason. The successful programs have good feeder programs with at least three or four good players in each class who have played a lot of games with one another. Those factors are what breeds success.”
Scott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Dowagiac superintendent Greg Blomgren addresses an audience during his first day in the position, July 1. At right, Blomgren officiates a girls basketball in December between host Cassopolis and White Pigeon. (Middle) Dowagiac assistant superintendent Michael Dunn, left, and Blomgren present Dowagiac Middle School science teacher Pat Lyle with a pin for 30 years of service. (Below) Blomgren, far right, is pictured with members of the Dowagiac Board of Education before the start of the 2024 Homecoming Parade. (Basketball photo by Scott Hassinger. All others provided by Dowagiac Community Schools.)