Football 

The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) announced today that football officials Dennis Redding (South Yarmouth, Mass.), John Coady (Massapequa, N.Y.), and Ralph Zingarella (North Haven, Conn.) have been named the 2008 recipients of the Red Hill Award, for excellence in football officiating. The recipients of the Red Hill Award will be honored on February 24, 2009 at the annual Eastern College Football Awards Banquet presented by FieldTurf Tarkett, an event held in the Pegasus Restaurant at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, N.J.

The award is named for Red Hill, who was an ECAC football official for 29 years.  Hill served as the director of the Eastern Association of Independent Football Officials Boston Chapter for 12 years.  He served as the vice president and the president of the EAIFO, and was responsible for instituting many of the EAIFO policies.  Over his career, Hill has made numerous contributions to the EAIFO and to college football officiating in general.

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 officiated high school football in Rhode Island, Texas, Tennessee, Connecticut and Massachusetts where he referred 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, Redding 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.

Coady began officiating high school football in 1988 and entered college officiating in 1993.  Coady has worked with the ECAC and ECFOA where he was a Northeast Conference crew member from 2002 to 2005.  In 2001, Coady officiated the Division III playoff game between RPI and Ithaca and has worked several ECAC Bowl games from 2005-2008.  Coady served as a board member for the Metro Chapter from 1999 to 2008 and served as president for the Metro Chapter of the EAIFO in 2007.  Coady received his bachelor's degree in history education from SUNY Albany in 1984.  Coady then earned his master's degree in liberal studies from SUNY Stony Brook in 1997 and received his advanced graduate certificate in school district administration from Stony Brook in 2002.  Coady taught social studies at Richmond Hill High School from 1999 to 2005, while also serving as the dean and assistant principal.  In 2005, Coady became the assistant principal at Smithtown High School East a position he still holds.  Coady and his wife, Margaret, have three children, Nicole, Trevor and Logan.

Zingarella has officiated Division II and Division III football for 13 years as a member of the EAIFO Connecticut Chapter.  He has refereed numerous conference championships in both divisions, including the 2007 ECAC North Bowl between University of Rochester and Alfred University.  Zingarella served as a referee for the New Haven Football Officials Associations for 26 years, working three state championship games and four state playoff games.  Zingarella was also the president and current treasurer of the NHFOA.  In 2005, Zingarella was inducted into the New Haven Gridiron Club, as well as the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 2007.  Zingarella has also been a social studies teacher for 29 years, serving as the department chairman at Cheshire High School in Cheshire, Conn.  In 2008, he was awarded with the Cheshire District Teacher of the Year.  Currently, Zingarella is an official and member of the of the IAABO-Boys and Girls High School Basketball, FUGNHS-Greater New Haven High School Softball Umpires, and CLOA-Connecticut Lacrosse Officials Associations.  A graduate of Southern Connecticut State University, Zingarella has been married for 33 years to his wife Cynthia and they have two daughters, Andrea, 29, and Dayna, 26.

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All-Time Red Hill Award Recipients

 
1999

David Carter (Boston)

 
2000

Jerome Miranda (Metro)
William Dixon (Southern)

2001

John Spencer (Metro)
Herb Stayton (Philadelphia)

2002

Joseph Donnelly (Philadelphia)
William Ward (Boston)

 
2003

Jim Dinkel (Western Pennsylvania)
Henry Finelli (Metro)
Carmine Picardo (Metro)
James Sheehan (Empire)

2004

Richard Anderson (Boston)
Thomas Wheatley (Metro)

 
2005

Daniel Carr (Western Pennsylvania)
William Mara (Western New England)
Edwin Shanahan (Boston)

 
2006

Rick Ranucci (Empire)
Larry Sciancalepore (Metro)
Tim Schmidt (Western New England)

 
2007

Jim Kearney (Boston)
Tom Mawhinney (Western New England)
Peter Walsh (Metro)

 
2008

Dennis Redding (Boston)
John Coady (Metro)
Ralph Zingarella (Connecticut)