Joe Manjone

SILVERHILL Alabama USA NFHS

First AskTheRef.com Appearance:

First Year Licensed:1959 (High School)
License Level:Currently only High School

Association:Baldwin County
Additional Associations:Basketball,, Baseball, Softball, Football

Soccer was brought to my high school in 1957 when Karl Mahle who played soccer at East Stroudsburg State became my high school physical education teacher and soccer coach. The first soccer game that I played in was the first soccer game that I had ever seen. After graduation, I was asked by Coach Mahle to come back and officiate, then got approved by the PIAA (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association). In 1960, while at Penn State I met William Jeffrey, the former Penn State soccer coach who was starting a youth soccer program in State College. He asked me to referee and became my first mentor. After college, in 1964, I moved to southeastern Pennsylvania which was one of the top soccer areas in the country. I got to officiate, with the help of the association president, Ray Buck, higher levels of high school soccer and some college soccer, and joined a newly established college soccer officials association, the NISOA. I then went back to Penn State and helped to start the Central Pennsylvania NISOA chapter. My high school and college officiating schedule continued to improve. At that time all games were refereed using the dual system. I then continued to referee high school and college soccer in states that I worked including Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and Alabama. While in Alabama, I helped to start the North Alabama NISOA chapter. In 1980, I was asked by Dr. Ray Bernabei to be the NISOA Region 3 and then Region 5 Rep. I held these positions for 20 years. High School soccer in Alabama officially began in 1991. I was asked to be the Rules Interpreter and the State Championship coordinator and have held that position since then, even though I lived in Maryland and Iowa for a total of four years during this period. I came back to Alabama for clinics, to observe games, and coordinate the championships during those four years. In 2000, I was selected to serve as the Officials representative on the NISOA rules committee. With that appointment and a desire to center only on high school soccer, I stopped officiating college and USSF games. Although, I still work high school games, I do not work many due to my professional work schedule and many involvements, and also because my speed has been hampered by the two artificial hips which I acquired along the way.
In 2010, as Chair of the NFHS Rules Committee, I was asked to come back to NISOA and serve on the Executive Committee as the Interscholastic Director, which I have done since then. In 2012, I was selected as the NFHS Official Outstanding Contributor of the Year Award. In 2013, I was inducted into the NISOA Hall of Fame. Today, In 2018, I retired from the NFHS Soccer Rules Committee, the NISOA Executive Board, and as the State Soccer Interpreter and Championship Coordinator in Alabama. In 2018, I was the first soccer official to be inducted into the Alabama High School Hall of Fame. I also received the NFHS Citation Award in 2018. Soccer and the many outstanding individuals that I met along the way assisted me in attaining a career in Intercollegiate Athletics at Colleges and Universities that were at all of the various levels of competition from NCAA Division I to NAIA Division II. It was through the career in athletics that I was also able to establish a parallel career in higher education academics. I am thankful for all those that helped me including those mentioned above.

Hobbies and General Interest

Favorite Quote

When You Get to a Fork in the Road, Take it. Yogi Berra