GREEN BAY — The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) concluded its celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX with an all-female officiating crew during the state volleyball championship games.
Title IX was signed into law on June 23, 1972 by President Richard Nixon. The legislature states that “No person in the United States, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program of activity receiving Federal funding.”
Melissa Gehring, Assistant Director of WIAA, said the decision caps a season full of celebration, which began with the first girls’ wrestling state tournament on Jan. 29.
“We were just thinking of ways to celebrate the passing of the legislation, so one way to do it was to highlight our quality female officials,” Gehring said. “It went to line judges, and then we decided to do scorekeepers as well. There are a lot of women contributing to this sport to make it grow.”
Barb Keegan of Monroe officiated during Monticello’s championship game on Saturday, Nov. 5.
“It was absolutely amazing,” Keegan said. “It was so fun to work with a group of solid women who love the game of volleyball. I was only one-year-old when Title IX went into place. I played volleyball, I’ve coached volleyball, I’ve been involved all my life. I absolutely love it. For them to honor this situation was incredible.”
To become an official at the state tournament level, an individual must be a “master,” Gehring said. This can take anywhere from 5 to 20 years with certain games officiated and rankings from coaches.
“We have officials that have been doing this for 20 years, and we have officials that will be highlighted today that have been doing this for 48 and 49 years — since the inception of this sport in 1973 here in Wisconsin,” Gehring said.
Keegan is in her eighth year of officiating and has been learning under Loren Homb.
“It came about that I wanted to start reffing, and I said I’d just do some middle school and freshman games,” Keegan said. “Loren Homb said, ‘My partner can’t do it anymore, do you want to go with me?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t want to do varsity.’ I was nervous. He said, ‘You got this. You know the game. You’ll be fine.’ He’s taught me everything I know, and I couldn’t have a better mentor.”
