The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) will hold its 18th annual Officials Conference on Friday and Saturday, July 21-22 in East Peoria. The event will unfold at the East Peoria Embassy Suites and East Peoria Community High School. The theme of this year’s conference is “Embrace Higher Standards”.

The IHSA Officials Conference is expected to draw over 500 officials to the Peoria area, where they will collaborate with other officials by participating in general and sport-specific officiating workshop sessions. In addition, they will share firsthand experiences to better prepare fellow officials, while also enjoying a variety of networking activities.

Walk-up registration is welcome (Friday at Embassy Suites 3 p.m. – 7 p.m., Saturday at EPHS 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.) for any official who does not register in advance.

The conference begins Friday with educational sessions for IHSA officials serving as Clinicians, while a golf outing will also unfold at Coyote Creek Golf Course in Bartonville on Friday morning. Following conference registration, Friday evening features a workshop for first-time officials in all sports and an opening session that will honor all of the state final officials from the 2016-17 school year.

IHSA Assistant Executive Director and Officials Department administrator Sam Knox, a 20+ year IHSA baseball and basketball official, will open the festivities. He will be followed by Michigan native Bill Gomoluch, a long-time NCAA Division I softball official and successful junior college basketball coach, who will serve as the keynote speaker.

“There has been a great deal of coverage lately on the shortage of high school officials nationally,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “As we deal with our own challenges in Illinois, we hope that events like this that celebrate officiating show our officials how valued and respected they truly are. Officiating is a great vocation and an incredible way to give back while staying connected to the sports you love. We hope more individuals will consider getting involved as officials."

Saturday will be comprised of over 40 breakout sessions in 11 IHSA sports, ranging from topics such as FIFA Women's World Cup referee Margaret Domka providing tips on advancement, Peoria native Kevin Moss discussing the importance of mentoring new swimming & diving officials, and Fowler resident Ray Eickelschulte helping fellow wrestling officials improve their communication with coaches and wrestlers on the mat. Many include video review and interactive “you make the call” type scenarios from actual IHSA games.

In addition, the IHSA will hold overview sessions on Saturday to introduce potential officials to its newest sports, boys lacrosse and girls lacrosse, which will debut with inaugural state finals in the spring of 2018.

The 2017 IHSA Officials Conference culminates with a reception and awards program early Saturday evening. The honorees include officials who reached milestone years of service (15, 25, 30, 40, 50 years) and the IHSA Officials of the Year (listed below). Among the honorees are Dance Official of the Year Paula Hess, who will be honored posthumously.

The Officials of the Year who will be recognized on Saturday include:

Sport	Official of the Year	Hometown
Boys Soccer	John Martelin	Rockford
Girls Soccer	Richard Geati	Arlington Heights
Football	Kevin McMurray	Willow Springs
Boys Basketball	William DePue	Palatine
Girls Basketball	Robert Brendel	Fairview Heights
Baseball	Keith Medema	Sterling
Softball	Rick Howarth	Pecatonica
Girls Volleyball	Ruth Holliday	Vandalia
Boys Volleyball	Stan Wiedeman	Morton Grove
Boys Swimming & Diving	John Mulsoff	Huntley
Girls Swimming & Diving	Bob Graf	Pekin
Water Polo	Patrick Bauer	Chicago
Cross Country	John Betteridge	Elmhurst
Boys Track & Field	Keith Jacobi	Batavia
Girls Track & Field	Don Hackler	Ridge Farm
Wrestling	Roy Snyder	Rochelle
Boys Gymnastics	Scott Hagel	Wauconda
Girls Gymnastics	Carol Myers	Lake Forest
Competitive Cheer	Tiffany Michaels	Bloomington
Competitive Dance	Paula Hess	Glenview