2024 IHSA Officials Conference: Registration Open For Event On July 12-13

[Link] The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is excited to celebrate 25 years of its annual professional development conference for athletic officials, as the 2024 IHSA Officials Conference will unfold on Friday and Saturday, July 12-13, 2024, at Normal West Community High School in Normal.

IHSA officials can register for the event online via the IHSA Officials Center (for any questions on registration, please contact Melissa Burt at [email protected]).

Each summer, the IHSA holds the officials conference for the over 12,000 licensed athletic officials in Illinois, providing training in all sports in a collegial atmosphere focused on empowering officials to grow in their craft.

"This conference was one of the first events of its type in the country, and the fact that we are now celebrating 25 years just goes to show the value it has for our officials," said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. "We appreciate and thank all the current and past attendees who have helped it evolve over time and we hope it has had a similar impact on those who have taken part."

Celebrating a quarter century won't be the only history at the event, as the IHSA will hold its first girls flag football officials clinic within the event. The IHSA announced in February that it will debut a State Series in the sport during the fall of 2024. Over 500 individuals have already signed up to serve as IHSA flag football officials.

The IHSA will have a community service piece to the conference once again in 2024, as the IHSA will team up with Gift of Hope to encourage attendees to become organ, eye, and tissue donors.

"Working in surgery I have seen both parts of organ donation," said Joseph Meyer, a 24-year IHSA official who resides in Springfield. "The wonderful way the hospital will do honorary walks for the person donating and their families. Then I have seen families get the chance to live normal lives after receiving a donation. That's why everyone in my family are organ donors."

Despite a national shortage in officials, the IHSA has seen an increase in the number of officials licenses it has issued in each of the past two school years.

"We are excited about the progress, but we can never have enough officials," said IHSA Associate Executive Director Kurt Gibson. "We are striving to continue to find ways to recruit new officials while retaining our current officials. We hope that the uptick in licenses will correlate to greater attendance at the conference, as we believe this conference is an exceptional resource for officials to simultaneously celebrate officiating, improve their skills, and network with their peers."

Gibson, who retired as the IHSA's Associate Executive Director on July 1, will continue to oversee the IHSA's officiating efforts in a part-time role moving forward. He will serve as the keynote speaker for the 25^th anniversary event, as he reflects on his career and experiences at the IHSA, which began in 2002 and included serving as the IHSA administrator for boys golf, boys basketball, boys and girls gymnastics, boys and girls tennis, softball, bass fishing, esports, and sports medicine.

The conference will feature clinic opportunities, breakout sessions on specific officiating topics, a delegate meeting for all recognized officials' associations, and an awards ceremony where the Officials of the Year and service awards will be presented.

Walk-up registration at the event is allowed, but interested individuals are strongly encouraged to register online in the IHSA Officials Center or by contacting Melissa Burt at [email protected].

The 2023-24 IHSA Officials of the Year include:

IHSA OFFICIALS OF THE YEAR

Sport	Official of the Year	Hometown
Boys Soccer	Jay Weis	Mundelein
Girls Soccer	Kevin Parker	Lombard
Football	Fred Steinway	Quincy
Boys Basketball	Darrin Sortor	Sherman
Girls Basketball	Kenneth Pink	Arlington Heights
Boys Lacrosse	Scott Rogowski	Algonquin
Girls Lacrosse	Patrick Nolan	Elmwood Park
Baseball	John Cyr	Woodridge
Softball	James Bauser	Springfield
Girls Volleyball	Sharon Walker	Stanford
Boys Volleyball	Aaron Woods	Channahon
Boys Swimming & Diving	Mark Markwell	South Elgin
Girls Swimming & Diving	Patricia Flesher	Waukegan
Water Polo	Colleen Lyons	Homer Glen
Cross Country	Leo Vandervlugt	Chillicothe
Boys Track & Field	Thomas Miller	Carpentersville
Girls Track & Field	Kelley Lucas	Mt. Zion
Girls Gymnastics	Hilary Carlson	Bloomingdale
Competitive Cheerleading	April Mahy	New Lenox
Competitive Dance	Laura Panuska	Woodridge
Wrestling	Derek Ryan	Kankakee

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