Spotlight: Kim Yelich, Basketball Official, Indiana High School Athletic Association

Officiating has always been a family affair for Kim Yelich, an Indiana High School Athletic Association Basketball Official.

Yelich began her officiating career at age 19. As a coach for the local elementary school and junior high basketball team, she decided to study the IHSAA basketball exam so that she would better understand the rules. The rest, as they say, is history.

Yelich’s father, a long-time high school basketball official, was a strong influence on her, Yelich recalls the story of being thrust into the officiating world by him when she first earned her official’s license. Her father brought her along to a game and told her to wear her official’s uniform. When the other official never showed up, Yelich had to officiate the eight-grade boys’ game alongside her father.  Despite first game nerves, and getting yelled at by her father for being out of position during a fastbreak, Yelich was bitten by the officiating bug.

First and foremost, Yelich is an educator. A 30-year kindergarten teacher, she believes that role has helped her become a good official because it mirrors what she does in the classroom. Educators must instill good sportsmanship, be respectful of others in the classroom, and deal with adversity. The teacher must be able to multitask, communicate with others and she feels her teaching experience has helped her become a good official. Yelich feels truly blessed to be able to do two things she loves: officiate and teach kindergarten. Along the way, she has been able to create her own family of nurturing, supportive officials.

IHSAA Assistant Commissioner Sandra Walter has stated, “Yelich is an educator by trade. Educators and officials’ roles are very similar in their deliberate, yet calm approach. I am impressed with not just her officiating, but how Yelich communicates in general with others. She is professional, knowledgeable, structured, firm, but approachable. Yelich is very community oriented. She is constantly assisting/mentoring others; giving back to the game – much of which goes unnoticed but by that one official that elevates their game because of Yelich’s dedication to others.”

Her experiences as a young official coupled with her training in education have helped form her passion for mentoring others. She has fond memories of the early parts of her career when many officials from her association took the time to work with her during scrimmages and games.

One veteran official stands out for Yelich though. During her first sectional basketball game, she was assigned with an official who was a long-time partner with her father. He asked her to arrive early and they had a three-hour pregame. After the game, they post-gamed so long that all of the administrators left and they had to find a janitor to let her into the official’s locker room. Throughout her career, he would tell her that he knew she would one day officiate a state final because she was that good of an official. That made her latest state championship game an emotional one.

Yelich was assigned to work the state final game with that official’s son who had passed away earlier that year. The morning of the state championship, the son called Yelich to congratulate her on being assigned the Class 4A State Championship game and Yelich told him how much she missed his father.

“He knows.” Yelich’s friend told her. “We are both looking out for you now.”

Yelich has taken that experience to heart in her passion to mentor other female officials. Yelich is proud to know that some of the players she officiated at the beginning of her career are now coaching and officiating. There is a shortage of females in this arena, and it is vitally important for girls to see those positive role models for inspiration. She feels the call to create a pathway to enable more female participation. The officials Yelich mentors refer to her as a second mom and she encourages their success while teaching them how to handle the stresses of calling a game without getting discouraged. She wants them to have the same experiences that she was privileged to have. If Yelich were to offer advice to new officials it would be:

• Start officiating at the lower levels first. If you can work lower-level basketball you could do any level, because stranger things happen at that level.

• Get involved in an official’s association and surround yourself with good officials that will help mentor you and that will help you grow as an official. Learn from them and attend the meeting. Any official will tell you that they would not be able to do their job without a support system.

• Give back. If someone helps you, return the favor. No one has ever gotten to where they are on their own.

• An official needs a good sense of humor as well as a thick skin. Don’t take yourself too seriously because you are not the game.

Yelich is always working an angle for encouraging girls to become involved. For example, while working the most recent girls’ basketball state championships, she had a conversation with the ball girl about becoming an official. Yelich plans to reach out to her at a later time to encourage her to get involved.

“Yelich is one in a million for us,” commented Walter.  “She has taken on the role of mentoring several young, up and coming officials each year.” 
Yelich feels that her greatest professional challenge was getting to that first state championship game.  There were endless observations before she was given the green light, but she learned throughout the process. Yelich’s dream would be to have a female official in the state finals and hopes that she is paving the way for other female officials in Northern Indiana. More recently, Yelich officiated her first IHSAA Boys Basketball sectional after all these years. Her fellow officials were the ones who convinced her to apply and referenced equal opportunity for officials of both genders. She was honored to receive that assignment.

One of Yelich’s greatest honors was being asked to serve as the Officials Host for the IHSAA Girls Basketball State Finals. In that role, she gained a sense of how amazing the IHSAA staff is with all the planning that goes on behind the scenes. From making sure that the trophies are unwrapped, officials gift bags are in place, workers, teams, and cheerleaders are all checked in, not a single detail goes unchecked.

Yelich has received multiple recognitions in her officiating career. She has been asked to officiate the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Classic Tournament three times and several Indiana/Kentucky All Star games. She was the first woman to receive her area’s Stan Dubis Award, a recognition for her work with Indiana high school basketball. She was honored by the Indiana High School Basketball Coaches Association with the Mildred Ball Award, and by her peers with the IHSAA Basketball Official of the Year Award in 2010.

It is nice to be known as a state championship official, but Yelich would like her willingness to help others to be her legacy. When an official works with Yelich, she wants the official to feel comfortable, confident, and in control.  Yelich would like to be remembered as someone who was kind and tried to do the right things as an educator. Yelich makes it a point to provide positive feedback to coaches and players by recognizing their sportsmanship during basketball games. Student athletes need to be commended for good behavior and it should always be verbalized. She loves it when players hand the ball back to the official, rather than throwing or whipping it back to the official disrespectfully. She is especially aware of players who have lost the game, but still approach the official to thank them for officiating the game.

In her official’s association some of their veterans are referred to as “ocean walkers” because they have accomplished great things in their officiating careers. “Ocean walkers” may have been assigned to a state championship game or have served for a long time. When Yelich started officiating, she was known as one of the “puddle jumpers” – new officials who could just barely get over the puddle. Yelich always wanted to be that “ocean walker” in every sense of the word. We think she has arrived.