MOUNT VERNON — Sitting in Terry Bush’s living room is like sitting in a history class on Knox County sports, specifically softball and volleyball.
He starts nearly every sentence with “do you remember?” and then offers up a name from years, sometimes decades, past.
On Feb. 27, the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) chose Bush as Official of the Year in volleyball.
The award ceremony is set for June 20 at the Hilton Columbus/Polaris in Columbus. He received an email from Amanda Harding, manager of officiating at the OHSAA, with the subject line: “Congratulations for being selected as the official of the year in your sport.”
“Each sport has a DOD (Director of Officiating Development), and they make the selection based on exemplifying what an official in that sport should be,” Harding stated.
“This may include working tournament contests, mentoring and giving back to their local associations, how they interact with all stakeholders in the sport (AD’s, coaches, student-athletes, other officials, spectators) and serving their communities.”
How it began
A friend’s suggestion got Bush started in officiating.
“I was playing co-ed volleyball and a friend said, ‘I’m going to get my license. You get yours, and we can ref together.’ So I did, and we started reffing together. That was in the mid-70s,” Bush said.
His career escalated almost by coincidence when the late Donna Newberry saw Bush ref. Newberry was big in women’s sports in the 1970s.
“She was scouting a high school player from Michigan. She came up to me afterward, introduced herself and said, ‘you can ref college,’” Bush said.
After learning that all he needed to do to get his license was take a test, Bush did just that.
“Back then it was just the OAC (Ohio Athletic Conference),” he recalled. “They didn’t have the NCAC (National Collegiate Athletic Association) until 1984.”
When Bush began his career, refereeing was more local.
“Back then the schools hired their own refs,” he said. “So she (Newberry) helped me get matches.”
Networking was critical to staying busy as an official.
“The coaches got to know me, and I began to get the matches,” Bush said.
A few years into his officiating career, however, things changed.
“In the ’80s, they started using assigners,” he noted.
An assigner is an independent contractor that schools, leagues, or conferences hire to assign licensed officials to regular-season athletic contests.
However, Bush learned that relationships remained critical to staying busy. Getting to know the assigner and maintaining a good reputation were key.
Dialing it back
The veteran referee has been wearing his whistle for 50 years, and the spry 77-year-old has no plans to hang it up any time soon. Bush has no idea how many games and matches he has officiated over his half-century.
“Some I do (remember),” he said. “I know people who write down everything they do down; I’m not one of those.”
While he has officiated baseball, softball, and volleyball, he enjoys volleyball the most.
“I used to play volleyball; now I play pickleball,” he said with a smile. “Pickleball is a very social game. You can go anywhere. People you don’t know, if they are playing pickleball, you fit right in.”
Up until six years ago, Bush officiated more sports.
“I did club, high school and college basketball and umpired baseball for 40 years,” he said.
His multi-sport officiating met the same fate as many activities in the world.
“When COVID hit, I decided just to do volleyball,” he said, adding that he likes volleyball because it keeps him busy.
“Volleyball is year-round. High school and college start in August, and they don’t finish until November. Then club goes from January to July.”
Military service
Bush is not only a veteran athletic official, he is also a United States Air Force veteran who served during the Vietnam War. Being in the military did not dampen Bush’s enthusiasm for the sport.
“When I was on the Air Force base, we played volleyball. We even set up (tournaments). I would ref then, too,” he said.
After returning to Mount Vernon from the service, Bush took a factory job at Pittsburgh Plate.
The Official of the Year is a bit of a Renaissance Man, and has done everything from factory work to respiratory therapy. But like an invisible magnetic field, officiating kept calling him back.
When asked the most difficult part of the job, Bush did not hesitate: “The parents.”
With five kids, 18 grandkids, and two great-grandkids, Bush has plenty of experience with the younger generation.
“I have been doing this so long that I am refereeing the second and third generations,” he said. “I see players and realize I refereed their parents.”
The Award
His background as a volleyball player is only partly why Bush enjoys officiating the game.
“I’m getting older, and it is less physical than softball or baseball,” he said.
Age notwithstanding, OHSAA administrators believe his skill and expertise transcend the decades and have recognized his dedication with the Most Valuable Official of the Year in Volleyball.
Generations of volleyball players and families would agree.
2025-26 Officials of the Year
Bush is one of 21 individuals who will be honored as the OHSAA Official of the Year in their respective sport during the OHSAA’s annual Celebration of Officiating banquet.
Officials of the year are selected through a process that includes OHSAA staff, OHSAA Directors of Officiating Development and local officials associations.
“We are grateful for the commitment and dedication of each of our nearly 15,000 contest officials across the state of Ohio,” said Beau Rugg, OHSAA Director of Officiating and a member himself of the OHSAA Officials Hall of Fame. “The OHSAA takes great pride in celebrating … officials of the year.
“Officiating is a service, and each of these individuals is to be celebrated for their excellence in that service.”
Baseball: Glenn Harrah, Strongsville
Boys Basketball: Kurt Schooley, Hilliard
Girls Basketball: Marilyn DeWalt, Oak Harbor
Boys Cross Country: Nicholas Molnar, Lorain
Girls Cross Country: Lisa Rucker, Dayton
Field Hockey: Jonathan Belvin, Munroe Falls
Football: Michael Dame, Brunswick
Gymnastics: Jane Droese, Hilliard
Ice Hockey: Michael Wenter, Lewis Center
Boys Lacrosse: Thomas Scott, Columbus
Girls Lacrosse: Katherine Jirus, Chardon
Boys Soccer: Miklos Hendricks, Canton
Girls Soccer: Jeri McCoy, Bucyrus
Softball: James Reneau, Findlay
Boys Swimming and Diving: Alan Jaffee, Bowling Green
Girls Swimming and Diving: Stephen Mayo, Dublin
Boys Track and Field: Marty Dahlman, Pataskala
Girls Track and Field: Edward Katzman, Youngstown
Boys Volleyball: Terry Bush, Mount Vernon
Girls Volleyball: Kevin McKinstry, East Palestine
Wrestling: Kurt Stewart, Kingston