Two Southern Illinois officials received Official of the Year honors on Thursday. Dale McConnell of Centralia and Jeffrey Crow of Mt. Vernon were part of 22 individuals named by the IHSA to receive the honor.
McConnell was recognized for his work as an official in the sports of Softball. Crow was recognized for his work in Girls’ Volleyball.
This year’s winners will be recognized during the 2025 IHSA Officials Conference, which will be held July 11-12 in Normal, Illinois.
“Officials are vital to the experience of high school student-athletes in Illinois, and we are proud to be able to honor these outstanding individuals as IHSA Officials of the Year,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “High school sports do not exist without them and the thousands of officials around the state who preside over contests and meets every day. This award only recognizes a small percentage of our dedicated officials, but we know they are all worthy of our respect and admiration. We understand they do not officiate for awards or recognition, but it remains a special tradition for the IHSA to be able to honor them.”
See the full list of honorees by sport below:
IHSA OFFICIALS OF THE YEAR
| Sport | Official of the Year | Hometown |
| Boys Soccer | Pasquale Mattera | Arlington Heights |
| Girls Soccer | Mike McDermott | Lockport |
| Football | Chris Terpstra | Lisle |
| Boys Basketball | Richard Doman | Gibson City |
| Girls Basketball | Thomas Strohl | Neoga |
| Boys Lacrosse | Nitin Rao | Northbrook |
| Girls Lacrosse | Elizabeth Demara | Bloomington |
| Baseball | Jim Urbanek | Chicago Heights |
| Softball | Dale McConnell | Centralia |
| Girls Volleyball | Jeffrey Crow | Mt. Vernon |
| Boys Volleyball | Kym McKay | Batavia |
| Boys Swimming & Diving | Emil Barbato | Schaumburg |
| Girls Swimming & Diving | Randy Clark | Bloomingdale |
| Water Polo | Joseph Trickey | DeKalb |
| Cross Country | Jesse Rocha | West Chicago |
| Boys Track & Field | Michael Gibbs | River Forest |
| Girls Track & Field | Tiffany Seay | Chicago |
| Girls Gymnastics | Betty Axelson-McClelland | South Barrington |
| Competitive Cheerleading | Amber Cruser | Waterloo |
| Competitive Dance | Allison Stewart | Grayslake |
| Boys Wrestling | Dave Fellinger | Chicago |
| Girls Wrestling | Dr. Dan McDonnell | Morris |
