2023 Annual Meeting Recap:

The annual meeting this year was one of the best attended we have ever had! Thank you to all who made it out, it was lovely to see you all!. This year saw two officials elected to leadership positions. First, Brett Fuller was elected to his first term as a general board member. Brett came into WIHOA a in 2021 and has had an immediate impact. You will not find a single official in WIHOA that does not like seeing his name on their schedule. Second, Carson Strachan was elected to his first term as a general board member. Carson came into WIHOA in 2020 with a hunger and drive to learn and excell. That drive has seen him attend multiple camps and work in the NA3 and NAPHL. Congratulations to these two officials, we cannot wait to see what you do on the board!

Our second year of awards saw more officials recognized for their hard work and commitment throughout the year. The first awards given out went to our dependable workhorse officials that seem to live at the rink. This year, we recognized all our officials that worked over 300 games as being a member of the "300 Club". Thank you to all of your hard work; Doug Brown, Carson Strachan, Luke Olson, Tim Edwards, Robert Feifer, Ben Wilner, Jared Bussell, James Karlin, and Patrick Jacobsen. Next, we recognized our adult and youth rookies of the year. These officials came in during their first year, took games, worked hard, and made an immediate impact for our assication. Congratulations to Chance Lees for being our Adult ROY and Camden Morrill for being our Youth ROY. Last, we recognized Matt Orr as our inaugural WIHOA Official of the Year. Matt had a great year at all levels and continues to work hard with the opportunities given to him. Congratulations to all of our award winners this year!

This year, our association was able to send three officials to the Tier 1 Rocky Mountain District Tournament. Sarah Webber, Seth McDiarmid, and Matt Orr were sent to Boulder, Colorado. We could not be more thrilled with the way our officials performed. Sarah was selected to wear the bands in a girls final. Seth and Matt were selected to work lines in separate boys finals. We love sending our officials out to these tournaments because we know they will represent WIHOA well. These officials were recognized for their hard work with some sweet custom Acme Thunderer whistles engraved with their acomplishment and WIHOA's logo.

This year, WIHOA had one official selected for nationals. Matt Orr was selected to work the 18U/16U, Tier 1 National Tournament in San Jose, California. Matt worked all the way through the semi-finals and all reports are that he had a great time working such a fun and exciting tournament. For his hard work, Matt was given a sweet custom Acme Thunderer whistle.

Tim Tate was on hand to recognize WIHOA officials for their work in the college and junior hockey ranks. This year, Brett Fuller was selected as the ACHA/USPHL Rookie of the Year. Brett has come on strong in the past few seasons and continues to put his head down and work. Brett always has a winning attitude and shows a willingness to learn and help others. Chris McPhee was recognized as the ACHA/USPHL Official of the Year. Chris has been in WIHOA for a very long time. If you are in hockey in Utah, you likely know Chris. This year, Chris took the role of mentor to heart and was an excellent support system to his partners on the ice. While lifting his on-ice team up, Chris maintained a level of excelence that we all strive for. Despite being a very tenured official in WIHOA, Chris was always willing to travel to distant games. Please congradulate these officials on their high performance this season.

Again, we were thrilled to have Grant Golightly and Semaphore Images on hand to take some images despite the weather. We are so lucky to have such an asset in our association. If you have any photo needs, please reach out to Grant!

We are looking forward to another great year!

- the WIHOA Board of Directors