Two officials to be honored at 2019 IBCA Clinic

Game officials Eason, Simpson to be recognized on April 26 during awards program
Game officials Mike Eason and Andy Simpson will be will be recognized with special awards at the 2019 Indiana Basketball Coaches Association’s annual clinic.
Eason and Simpson will be honored as respective winners of the Roy Gardner and Mildred Ball awards during a ceremony on April 26 during the 2019 IBCA Clinic at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis.
The full clinic runs April 26-27. Admission to the clinic is $50 for IBCA members and $100 for non-IBCA members.
The two officials are being cited for their work impacting the game floor, Eason from 1991-present and Simpson from 1990-present.
Eason is in his 28th year of officiating and has worked the boys’ basketball State Finals on four occasions. The Cumberland resident is a member of the Indiana Officials Association and has serves the group as a board member.
Simpson has officiated for 29 years, including once in the boys’ basketball State Finals and five times in the girls’ basketball State Finals. The Crown Point resident is a member of the Lake County Officials Association, which he has served as president, past president, secretary, basketball chairman and basketball assignor.
The Gardner Award is named after the late Roy Gardner, a Lawrenceburg native, Ball State graduate and former Batesville High School math teacher who worked three boys basketball State Finals and officiated in the Big Ten from 1959-69. He passed away in 1977 and the IBCA has presented an award in his name since 1978. Gardner was inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Ripley County Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
The Ball Award is named after Mildred Morgan Ball, a graduate of Gary Roosevelt High School and Indiana University who served as an IHSAA assistant commissioner from 1977-97. During her time at the IHSAA, Ball was responsible for licensing and training of contest officials and also worked with the National Federation of High School Associations rules committee. The IBCA has presented an award in her name since 1997. She was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998.
For more information about the IBCA, go to www.ibcacoaches.com.
More information about each of the award winners follows.
2019 Roy Gardner Award
Congratulations to the Roy Gardner Award Winner: Mike Eason
Mike Eason of Cumberland is the winner of the 2019 Roy Gardner Award.
Eason is a 1982 graduate of South Newton High School, where he played football, basketball and baseball. He attended Ball State University and graduated in 1987.
He started his officiating career during the 1991-92 basketball season. Over 27 years, Eason has had the opportunity to work four boys’ basketball State Finals (2006, 2009, 2012 and 2017) and four girls’ basketball State Finals (2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016). He also is a football official and officiated the 2015 Class 5A football State Finals.
Eason is a member of the Indiana Officials Association. He currently is a board member and previously served as the treasurer of the association. He credits his success to the great group of officials he has worked with and learned from over the years.
Professionally, Eason has worked in the finance and banking industry his entire career. He currently is a mortgage loan officer for Indiana Members Credit Union. His hobbies include golf and supporting his favorite sports teams, the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears.
Eason and his wife, Susie, have two children – Aaron, 19, and Kamryn, 16. Mike also has another daughter, Erica, 26.
2019 Mildred Ball Award
Congratulations to the Mildred Ball Award Winner: Andy Simpson
Andy Simpson of Crown Point is the winner of the 2019 Mildred Ball Award.
Simpson became a licensed official in 1990 when he joined the Lake County Officials Association, which he has served as president, past president, secretary, basketball chairman and basketball assignor. He also has been a vice president of the Indiana Football Officials Association northern region and secretary for the Indiana High School Officials Association.
He served as an IHSAA basketball rules interpreter and lead clinician from 2002-07, represented the IHSAA at the National Association of Sports Officials conventions in 2010 and 2013, was a presenter in football and basketball annual IHSAA Officials Summit seminars from 2013-16, and has been a coordinator for an officials’ recruitment, retention and mentoring from 2016-present.
Over the years, Simpson has officiated in 14 IHSAA State Finals events. Those include five in girls basketball (2004, 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2017), one in boys basketball (2016), three in football (2004, 2012 and 2016), four in softball (2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016) and one in unified football (2018). He also has officiated collegiately in basketball, football and softball.
In addition, Simpson officiated in the 2009 Indiana North-South All-Star Softball Games, the 2010 and 2017 boys basketball Hall of Fame Classic events and the 2017 Indiana North-South All-Star Football Game. He was honored in 2017 as the IHSAA Girls Basketball Official of the Year and is set to be recognized as the IHSAA Softball Official of the Year in June 2019. In 2018, he received the Stan Dubis and the Harry Werkowski awards from the Lake County Officials Association.
Simpson is a 1978 graduate of Highland High School, where he competed in football, swimming and baseball as well as non-school teams in hockey and racquetball. He also played competitive racquetball after high school in open and professional divisions, claiming more than 50 event championships, several Indiana Open championships and two national championships in paddleball.
After high school, Simpson worked as a millwright. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and management in 1986 from Purdue University-Calumet and worked as a manager and reliability engineer for Arcelor Mittal Steel in East Chicago. He retired in 2016 from the Arcelor Mittal Steel Division.
Simpson enjoys playing golf and volunteers for several organizations, including Special Olympics.
He and his wife, Barbara Kalish-Simpson, live in Crown Point.