In February Ron Nelson got to do something that very few referees get to do – officiate for three generations of a family. Nelson had previously been a referee in games Dennis Hunsicker had played in. He also officiated some of Dennis’s son’s game, Nate Hunsicker, the current Northwestern Lehigh boys soccer head coach. Recently he reffed a third generation of Hunsickers as Nate’s son Cameron is now playing in games refereed by the veteran official.

This is an accomplishment that not many referees get to achieve which is something that Nelson is very aware of.

“It’s very unusual to have three generations. Most officials just don’t last that long. It was just a different experience,” said Nelson.

Nelson began his career as a referee in 1962 when he was a freshman in college. At that time, he was refereeing intramural basketball games, but throughout his career Nelson has been a referee at almost every level, from leagues for kids all the way up to college.

He eventually expanded to other sports such as football, soccer and softball.

Many referees that began at the same time as Nelson have not lasted, but there are two things that have kept him in the officiating world for so long, the camaraderie of sports and most importantly, his ability to ignore outside noise when fans get a bit boisterous.

“You have to ignore them and know that you’re doing your job,” said Nelson.

While Nelson has gained a lot of experience officiating games in the United States, he also has experience officiating overseas.

“I used to fly back and forth between Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan, officiating tournaments and games over there,” he said. “I was a civilian and the military guys always wanted someone that was fair and neutral, so the civilian would come in and work the Army-Navy game or something like that.”

During his time as an official overseas Nelson had the opportunity to be a referee for the first two NCAA football games to be played in Japan, which were played in 1976 and 1977. This is one of Nelson’s favorite experiences as an official.

“It was back when Doug Williams, the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, was a junior and a senior and coach Eddie Robinson, who was the coach of Grambling State University, walked up to me and recognized me from the previous year,” said Nelson. “It was pretty neat.”

Outside of his experiences in Asia, Nelson also spent time in Africa, where he ran basketball clinics for both players and other officials.

“Officiating sports has been very good to me,” said Nelson

While Nelson has had many incredible experiences throughout his career as an official he is now calling out for a new generation of officials.

“We always need new officials,” he said. “We are always short on people who are willing to come out and run up and down the court and make a snap decision. We need people who can get involved. A lot of the officials who have been around for many years, we’re getting old and its harder and harder to keep up with the athletes. We need younger people to get out and run with us.”