When Stan Wiedeman first broke into volleyball officiating back in 1986 it was as a favor to his uncle Ray McCulley.
His uncle’s friend was the athletic director and women’s volleyball coach at Ozark Christian College in Wiedeman’s hometown of Joplin, Mo., and was hard pressed to find officials for his volleyball games.
While McCulley decided the gig wasn’t for him, Wiedeman was intrigued, in part because he needed an extra source of income, and began his now 20-plus year career as a volleyball official. After 12 years of officiating girls high school volleyball in Missouri, Wiedeman and his family moved to the Chicago area in 1999.
While serving as a pastor at Lakeside Church of Chicago in Skokie, he took a five-year sabbatical from officiating volleyball. But as his children trickled through Niles West, he found himself itching to get back involved in the game.
“I missed being in the gym and just missed being a part of the action,” said Wiedeman, a Morton Grove resident. “I had done it so much for 12 years and I enjoyed it. It was a great way to meet people and I found it mentally challenging to be an official.”
Wiedeman was put in touch with Nancy Nester, a key figure in the volleyball officiating community who assigns games, and has been a regular in the white polo ever since. After 14 years of service, Wiedeman was named the IHSA’s Official of the Year in boys volleyball for 2016-17.
Wiedeman will be recognized at a banquet during the IHSA Officials Conference on July 22 in East Peoria.
“What makes Stan standout among the great officials is his consistency and character,” said Stacey Lambert, the IHSA assistant executive director responsible for boys and girls volleyball. “He is a highly ethical individual and a great communicator, which provides comfort to our coaches and players when he is officiating their match. They know he is going to bring his best effort to every match, but at the same time, they know they can also talk to him when they have a question or need a clarification. He is a strong official and we are lucky to have him.”
The IHSA recognizes an official in 20 different sports. To be considered for the honor, an official has to be nominated by an officials association recognized by the IHSA. Staff members at the IHSA then vote on the nominees based on factors such as character, skill as an official and levels worked in the IHSA state series.
“While it’s annual award, I think we look at it almost like a career achievement,” IHSA assistant executive director Matt Troha said. “We’re really looking to recognize individuals who have worked far into our state series and generally have worked a state final, but also just people who are actively involved in their association, who mentor other officials and who have a good rapport with coaches. We’re just kind of looking for that total package and recognizing those folks for their contributions.”
Wiedeman, who is currently a math paraprofessional at Niles West, does most of his officiating at boys and girls matches in the Central Suburban League, Mid-Suburban League and North Suburban League. Seven years ago he started mixing in line judge duties for college matches at Northwestern, Loyola and Illinois-Chicago.
“I like being a part of the student-athletes’ lives and getting to know them a little bit and being able to feel like I’m contributing to some part of their educational process I guess, even in a small way that it is,” Wiedeman said. “A lot of times as I get to know these kids over times and I get to know coaches over time, I think the relationship are more important to me than the game itself.”
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Wiedeman was a line judge at the girls state tournament in 2013 and the boys state tournament in 2014. And he was a main official in the boys 2016 state tournament.
His fondest memory, however, occurred back in Missouri. It was in 1998 when he worked the girls Class 4 state championship match.
“That was just a really special event. The game itself was pretty anticlimactic. The team that won, won pretty easily,” Wiedeman recalled. “But just being the R-1 in that particular match was really a big honor and I knew it was a big honor. I was really grateful that the lady who was assigning that match gave that match to me.”
Brett Christie is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press