Tom Schaefer honored by IHSA for officiating

By day, Tom Schaefer manages pavement markings, signs and other controls as the traffic operations engineer for District 3 in Ottawa. After work, he has spent time on many soccer fields throughout northern Illinois as an official for a sport he has been passionate about since childhood.

He’s good at it. So good that he was named a 2022-2023 Official of the Year by the Illinois High School Association. Schaefer, of Ottawa, is one of 22 officials statewide earning the honor and will be recognized during the 2023 IHSA Officials Conference in July in Normal.

“I’m still surprised, I guess. I didn’t know I was in the running,” Schaefer says, humbly. “I just do everything that needs to be done and try to stay involved. Recognition comes when you least expect it, I guess.”

Schaefer spent his childhood in Racine, Wis. watching his father play for area club teams on Sundays. Soon enough, he joined a club team and played through high school and college. He did a summer job with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation in Rhinelander, Wis. as he attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and started at IDOT in 1986 soon after he graduated.

Although his career was getting started, Schaefer didn’t have much time for playing soccer. His return to the game came years later as an official. One of his colleagues noticed Schaefer coaching his son in a YMCA league and asked him about officiating. Schaefer was interested and his officiating career began soon after getting his license.

Schaefer said balancing work and officiating wasn’t difficult as games are scheduled after his workday ends in the afternoon.

“There’s running involved in the game and there’s times though there is no running,” he said of the rigors of officiating. “There’s also walking or standing. It depends on how you position yourself. You think ahead of where you need to be so you can get there before the ball gets there. The ball moves quicker than the person. That’s the first thing you learn.”

His work on the field led to a 3-year appointment to the IHSA’s Advisory Committee, which meets yearly to discuss the rules from the National Federation of High Schools and determine if they wish to adapt them for state play, along with reviewing Illinois’ rules for tournament play. His appointment was a surprise to him, saying he received a recommendation letter from the IHSA director. Schaefer doesn’t take the appointment lightly.

“Hopefully that comes from coaches that see you, athletic directors that see you and other officials that are higher up see you when you perform,” he said. “The higher up games you do, and you do the state finals, you get more exposure.”

While some health issues caused Schaefer to put a pause on officiating, he hopes to return to the pitch to do a few more games. He has other ideas to contribute to the game he loves.

“I would like to stay involved with some committees we have in soccer and one of them is being a clinician, which is help teaching younger refs the rules of the game and answer their questions,” he said. “I may not be able to do much more on the field, but maybe I can do it as an advisory role.”