WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Ohio Athletic Conference is proud to celebrate spring “Officials’ Appreciation Week” by announcing a scholarship to invest in the future of sports officials.

The Richard Parsell Officiating Scholarship honors the late Richard Parsell, former Ohio Northern University student and football player. Following his passing in November, Parsell’s children, Laura, Mary and Tom desired to honor their father and his passion for officiating by creating a scholarship in his name to help an aspiring official begin their career.

Parsell, a Newark Air Force Base retiree, spent his remaining years after a long career as a committed sports official. As a sports lover and former athlete, he began officiating baseball, basketball, football and wrestling in 1967 for the Ohio High School Athletic Association and colleges around Ohio.

“Officiating was such a large part of his life and our lives growing up. We wanted to do something to honor him after his passing, and this just seems to fit,” said Parsell’s children. “He would like the idea that he was helping someone get started in officiating because he had such good memories and made quality connections and relationships out of it.”

Former official Bob Lawrence worked with the same Friday night football crew as Parsell for 10 years. The two bonded over their love for sports, officiating and family, becoming lifelong friends. “I remember Richard not just as my officiating partner, but as a great friend and family man,” said Lawrence. “We would golf and hunt together, but he would never do anything that would get in the way of time with his children and grandchildren.”

The Richard Parsell Officiating Scholarship will be given to a graduating OAC student every year who wants to begin a career in officiating. The scholarship recipient will be reimbursed for the cost of officiating courses and certification.

“Officials are an essential part of the student-athlete experience; we rely on them to help create a safe and fair playing environment and without them, we would not be able to provide our student-athletes with a meaningful competitive experience. I am so grateful for our current OAC officials and am also aware that we need to expand the pipeline to ensure we can continue to sponsor sports and host games” said OAC Commissioner Sarah Otey. “We are so appreciative of the generosity of Richard Parsell’s family and are thrilled to join with them and honor his memory and his passion for officiating.  We will continue to see him positively impacting sport in supporting the development of the next generation of officials.”

For more information on becoming an official, visit the National Association of Sports Officials website here.