HOLLAND, Mich. — Well I used to coach high school basketball. And the time it took to with the practices and with my kids growing up, I decided to get into officiating,” said Todd Hoke.
For the last three decades, Todd Hoke has spent three or four nights a week on a basketball court.
“I started off at the junior college level and then got more into the DIII and DII stuff and enjoyed it,”
But on Saturday night, the Byron Center native wore the stripes for the last time.
“Tom Hoke is retiring after tonight’s MIAA championship game,”.
“The problem is, I’m getting older. They’re still 18-22 every year. So the challenge for me is the ride home and the next day feeling the pain,” said Hoke.
Todd’s last game as a referee was the MIAA women’s championship. A game he’s been lucky to officiate before along with many other high profile games.
“The Hope vs. Calvin game is always nice to do and I’ve done several of those. Any conference tournament, I’ve been blessed to do many conference tournaments. Doing the local stuff, you get to see a lot of the local kids come up through the local colleges so you see them through high school and then college. And then traveling the country to see good basketball,” said Hoke.
His son Connor and his wife were at DeVos field house last night to celebrate his last game. Along with a slew of handshakes and hugs from coaches and players.
While he’s ready to hang up his whistle, Todd says there is a lot about officiating he will miss.
“Having the best seat in the house,” said Todd. “I can just watch the players. You can see things develop, you can listen to coaches to see what they’ll expect and then watch the execution on the court,”.
While he won’t be running the sidelines, he did say that he’s looking forward to enjoying games from a difference perspective.
“I’ll be a fan. I’ll definitely be a fan. I’ve gotten to know a lot of players on these teams and I’ve promised I’ll come watch them so I’m going to do that,” said Hoke.
