News

CAPE COD, Mass. - Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Commissioner Rudy Keeling announced today that Dennis Redding and Bill Ward will be honored as co-recipients of the George L. Shiebler Award. They will receive their awards on Tuesday, October 6, at the ECAC Honors Luncheon presented by Jostens. The luncheon will be held at The Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis, Massachusetts during the 2009 ECAC Fall Convention and Trade Show.

The George L. Shiebler Award is presented annually to an ECAC official who has demonstrated dedication to his avocational activities. The award is named after George L. Shiebler, former ECAC commissioner, in honor of his leadership over the many years he was associated with Eastern collegiate athletics.

Redding began officiating football in Nebraska in 1976 at the PeeWee level while he was assigned Headquarters, Strategic Air Command in Omaha.  Due to frequent movement in his Air Force career, Redding had the good fortune to officiate football in Rhode Island, Texas, Tennessee, Connecticut and Massachusetts where he refereed many state playoff and championship games.  Redding developed formal documentation and comprehensive processes to upgrade the level of officiating in each state.  From 1987 to 1989, Re dding served in Europe for overseas assignments and officiated inter-service football as well as European league games in The Netherlands and Germany.  He then joined the ECAC in 1996 as a referee with the Connecticut Chapter of the EAIFO. As an ECAC on-field official, he worked Division I-AA, II and III games and was selected to work ECAC championship games as well.  In 2003, Redding was forced to retire as an official due to two forms of advanced cancer.  After his battle with cancer, Redding returned as a supervisor for Division II and III in 2004. Upon the retirement of John Collins in 2005, Redding assumed the position of ECAC Supervisor of Football Officials.  He retired in 2006, but continued as an unofficial assistant to current supervisor, Bill Ward.  Redding developed a comprehensive manual for ECAC football officials and updates the manual annually to reflect current NCAA rules and officiating philosophies.  Redding currently works for the ECAC, Ivy and Patriot Leagues as well as the Colonial Athletic Association as an observer and evaluator of on-field officials. He also works for the ACC as a replay communicator. In February of 2009, he was honored with the ECAC's Red Hill Award, for excellence in football officiating.

Ward serves as the ECAC Coordinator of Football Officiating, helping the ECAC provide officiating services to more than 90 Division II and III institutions and to more than 750 officials.  Ward was an NCAA official for 28 years and an ECAC Division I-AA official fo r 17 years, and was the referee in the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA National Championship game. 

He received the ECAC's Red Hill Award in 2002 in recognition of his excellence in football officiating. From 1977-1985, the line judge officiated ECAC Division II and III games prior to his promotion to Division I-AA. For the past 14 years, Ward has worked as an Arena Football League football official and refereed the Arena Bowl XVIII in 2004. He served as the head linesman in the Arena Football League's Virgin Mobile ArenaBowl XXII. Ward officiated on the court, as well, as an IAABO basketball official for 31 years.

About the ECAC^®
The ECAC is the nation's largest athletic and the only multi-divisional conference in the country with more than 300 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities.  The ECAC stretches from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors nearly 100 championships in 37 men's and women's sports and assigns more than 4,400 officials in 12 sports.  The ECAC also administers nine affiliate sports organizations and six playing leagues, and through the public relations arm of the conference, more than 2,500 student-athletes in 23 sports are recognized annually.  Finally, the ECAC serves as the primary conference for select members in the sports of men's and women's ice hockey and men's lacrosse.