2024 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, Sarah Webber was elected to her first term as a general board member in the Women's Interest position. Sarah has been a steady force in WIHOA for some time now and we are so thrilled to have her on the board. Second, Tyler Kesten was elected to his first term as a general board member. Tyler got tired of yelling at all of the officials while he played at UVU, so he transitioned to the best team on the ice and has been unstopable since. Congratulations to these two officials, we cannot wait to see what you do on the board!

Our third 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 200 games as being a member of the "200 Club". Thank you to all of your hard work; Doug Brown, Luke Olsen, Jared Bussell, Carson Strachan, Sarah Webber, Tim Edwards, Robert Feifer, James Karlin, Von Etcher, AJ Gilbert, Dave Spice, 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 Derrick Frame for being our Adult ROY and Kasey Bell for being our Youth ROY. Next, we recognized Eric Gierloff as our inaugural WIHOA Mentor of the Year. Eric has dedicated so much of his free time to ensure that hockey and officiating thrives in Cache Valley. We could not think of anyone better who exemplifies what this award means. Last, we recognized our WIHOA Officials of the Year - Sarah Webber and Seth McDiarmid. Both of these officials have thrived this year and we are so proud of the way they handle themselves on and off the ice. Congratulations to all of our award winners this year!

This year, our association was able to send one official to the Tier 1 Rocky Mountain District Tournament. Carson Strachan worked through the finals in Arizona this year. We could not be more thrilled with the way he performed. Carson was recognized for his hard work with a sweet custom Acme Thunderer whistles engraved with their acomplishment and WIHOA's logo.

This year, WIHOA had two officials selected for nationals. Seth McDiarmid and Carson Strachan worked USA Hockey Nationals this year. Carson was selected to work the 18U/16U, Tier 1 National Tournament and worked through the semifinals. Seth worked the USA Hockey High School Nationals and banded the championship game. For their hard work, Seth and Carson were given sweet custom Acme Thunderer whistles.

Tim Tate was on hand to recognize WIHOA officials for their work in the college and junior hockey ranks. This year, Shaun Houk was selected as the ACHA/USPHL Rookie of the Year. Shaun has come on strong in the past few seasons and continues to put his head down and work. Shaun always has a winning attitude and shows a willingness to learn and help others. Brett Fuller was recognized as the ACHA/USPHL Official of the Year. While Brett has been around only for a short time, he has shown up on everyones radar for the right reasons. He brings a winning smile and attitude to every locker room. While lifting his on-ice team up, Brett maintained a level of excelence that we all strive for. Brett has shown that he was always willing to travel to distant games to make sure that we have good officials on the ice. 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