Longtime Juneau referee Robert Sims, 75, was named the 2024-25 Alaska Sports Official of the Year recently by a joint committee of members from the Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).

“This is a relatively new recognition sponsored by NFHS and ASAA,” ASAA Associate Director Brian Hosken, the committee head, said. “It is for current officials…last year’s winner was Mike Goodwin out of Fairbanks.”

The award noted that “Sims’ outstanding achievement is a reflection of his exceptional service, leadership, and dedication to the sports of football, softball, and volleyball throughout our state…Officiating across three highly competitive and fast-paced sports, Robert demonstrates a deep understanding of each game but also an unwavering commitment to fairness, consistency, and integrity. His ability to carry out these responsibilities with professionalism and poise has earned the respect of coaches, athletes, fellow officials, and the wider sports community.”

Sims said the award was a complete shock.

“I had no clue it existed,” he said. “There are a lot of officials around the state that are so deserving.”

Sims said he gave up the basketball whistle in 2022, but continues officiating volleyball, fast-pitch softball and football, the tally of games involved is hard to fathom.

“For softball we recently had 11 home games and then I went to Sitka for a tournament and did eight games there,” Sims said. “That’s 20, then went there for a regular series…and for volleyball we had JIVE plus two home series so about 20 games…and then of course four home football games.”

Sims said it is not hard to stay engaged in a contest.

“Even a blowout, whatever the sport, I just force myself to concentrate more,” he said. “But of course a close game you want to be extra careful…the regional volleyball tournament was in Juneau and Ketchikan and JD were close every game so you have to make sure you concentrate on every point…as far as softball, we’ve had some blowouts but it is amazing to be out on the new grass field, we’ve been trying to get that turf for 20 years. It was cool to be one of the three to be calling that first game, me, David Means and Mike Crabb to walk out there…it was pretty awesome. It was also sad that Chad (Bentz) could not be there for the dedication as he worked so hard on it.”

Sims and friend Everett Boster used to tone their games by traveling to Florida and calling college fast-pitch softball for 20 years until COVID and did not resume after that. But Sims knows what big league talent is like and noted a change that stands out to him in the past decade.

“Especially on the basketball court and the football field many parents seem to think that their kids are going to play in the NFL or the NBA,” Sims said. “So the sportsmanship of fans in general has really gone downhill as far as I’m concerned as an official….Athletes from Southeast go and play at D3 schools and junior colleges, so there’s an avenue, and there are a lot of places that want people to play sports so you don’t have to be a super athlete, which is nice. If you have an athletic ability and you get good grades there are places where you can go and pay at least for a couple of years.”

Sims also noted that more kids are being more sport-specific all year round, again assuming they are professional material.

“When I played in high school and when I first started officiating we had kids that were running track and field, and kids that were playing football, and kids that we’re playing basketball and baseball,” he said. “They were playing two or three sports and you really don’t see that nearly as much anymore as you used to.”

Sims noted that the high expectations placed on athletes has had an effect on officials.

“It’s become a lot of kids thinking ‘me, me, me’ and disputing every decision and fans chiming in,” he said. “Specifically in basketball I know over the years of trying to keep officials because we were getting parents yelling and screaming, and hollering in a JV games. And it’s like, ‘hey, your youngsters are out here trying to learn and they’re in a JV game or a C-Squad game and you expect them to be perfect.’ That’s ridiculous. And then you know after a couple years officials go ‘hey, I don’t need this crap anymore.’ Getting and keeping officials is a big problem and one everyone should be concerned about.”

Sims listed numerous athletes over the many seasons that he was impressed by through their talent, sportsmanship and demeanor on the field.

More recently, let’s see, on the football field Jalen Johnson was always a leader and I never ever got any flack from him…every once in a while when I was the white hat he would say, “Hey, would you mind watching this guy? He’s holding’ or ‘That was kind of a low block.’ But he was a really nice kid to officiate. I never get any hassles from the volleyball kids. They’re always just so nice…Julie (Herman) from Thunder Mountain did a great job with her kids. And then Jody (Levernier, JD) does the same thing with the volleyball kids. Over the years, I’ve never really ever had any volleyball kids that gave me any problems. A few on the basketball court, but I don’t do that anymore. And of course, I don’t do baseball, but I do high school fast pitch. And you know, I have known a lot of those kids since they were in Little League. So I interact with them really well, don’t really have any problems, Taiya Bentz is such a nice young lady and Tatum Billings I’ve known her since she was a little kid…when players are friendly and nice that makes our job a little bit easier.”

As the framed certificate Sims received stated, “Whether on the gridiron, the diamond, or the court, his presence has brought credibility and excellence to every event you’ve officiated. Beyond the games themselves, his mentorship and example have helped shape the next generation of officials and foster a strong, respectful culture in Alaska sports.”

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.