Ernie Poochigian reflects on his more than 40 years as a sports field and floor official at the Kiwanis Club of Aurora luncheon Tuesday at the Prisco Center in Aurora.
Poochigian was behind the whistle from 1970 to 2013. He officiated middle school, high school, and college basketball games throughout northern Illinois for 41 years and football for 31 years.
He recalled one of the most exciting and intense football games ever in the early 1990s between high school rivals Oswego and Morris. He recalled a women’s college basketball game in which the other scheduled referee couldn’t make it and he had to call the game by himself. He said the coaches called extra time outs so he could catch his breath.
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