Who am I?
My name is Brett Anderson. I currently reside in Grayslake, IL with my wife and twin children. Since 2006 I have been a licensed official with the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). I am currently licensed in four sports: football, soccer, wrestling & lacrosse.
My officiating career got off to an auspicious start in November of my first year when I tore an ACL and shredded a medial meniscus officiating my first contest. The rehab process was significantly slowed due to the fact that I had one month old twins (Owen & Marlo) at home at the time, so I was unable to take the field, court, mat, or diamond until the following August.
Undeterred by my initial experience and with the help of a wonderful extended family, I began to officiate games the following fall at the pace about 200 per year. I’ve developed a true passion for the avocation of officiating and the perpetual quest for the perfect game.
During the week, I work as a consultant with the Acquity Group, LLC. I work as a Senior Business Analyst working to build brands and businesses in the digital space.
Officiating Highlights
I’ve been very fortunate and have had the pleasure of working many contests at a variety of levels. While each contest is important and interesting in its own way, I’ve listed some of the career highlights below.
Illinois High School Association
2011 Regional Tournament Wrestling (Niles, IL)
2011 Second Round Football Playoffs (Chicago, IL)
2011 First Round Football Playoffs (Palatine, IL)
2010 Second Round Football Playoffs (La Grainge, IL)
2010 First Round Football Playoffs (Schaumburg, IL)
Gridiron Football League
2011 GFL Championship, Referee (Libertyville, IL)
2010 GFL Semi-finals, Referee (Kenosha, WI)
NFL Flag National Tournament
2011 New Orleans Saints Regional Finals, Back Judge (Metairie, LA)
2011 National Tournament of Champions Final, Back Judge (Orlando, FL)
2011 NFL Tochito Nationals Semi-final, Referee (Orlando, FL)
2010 New York Jets Regional Finals, Back Judge (Florham Park, NJ)
2010 Chicago Bears Regional Finals, Back Judge (Waukegan, IL)
The Chicagoland Youth Football League
2011 Big 10 Championship Games, Referee (Lake Zurich, IL)
2010 Big 10 Championship Games, Line Judge (Grayslake, IL)
2009 Big 10 Championship Games, Line Judge (Mundelein, IL)
2008 Big 10 Championship Games, Line Judge (Mundelein, IL)
Why bother with blogging?
Mostly for selfish reasons. I’ve found that to truly master a craft you have to be capable of instruct others in the various aspects of that craft. I spend a significant amount of time working to improve as an official and I believe this to be an extension of that work. I am hoping that people will find these blog posts factually correct, informative, useful, and/or interesting. I believe that blogs of this nature work better as conversations, so please feel free to leave on topic comments or send me an email message.
Isn’t this a bit presumptuous at this point in your officiating career?
Possibly.
However, I’m looking at this as simply an exercise where I can organize my thoughts on various aspects of officiating. Nothing more. Nothing less. Posting my thoughts publicly not only invites feedback that I might not be able to receive via other various channels, but allows for the possibility that others can benefit from my work.
The thoughts expressed here are mine and not representative of my employer, any association of which I am a member, or the IHSA.
