Officials Appreciation Week Feature: Carrie Guy
In honor of Winter Officials Appreciation Week, the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) is celebrating some of its winter officials on social media and CHSAANow.com, while member schools are encouraged to celebrate their officials, as well. This can be achieved in several ways, both big and small. All of which is meant to say, thank you officials!
If you reach far enough back into the annals of Colorado high school girls basketball, you will learn that Calhan High School won the Class A-1 state title in 1987, then came back to win it again in 1988. Most of the members of those teams left basketball behind a long time ago, but one has been back on the floor for eight more state championship games.
Carrie Guy played for the Calhan High School teams that went undefeated those two years. A few short years later, she was well on her way to becoming one of the most respected basketball officials in the state. Those eight state title games are a testament to her excellence—not just with making calls but with maintaining positive relationships with both coaches and players.
Not many people go to basketball games to watch the officials, but for those who do make the effort, it’s not far to a realization they’re watching something special when the see Guy in action. For most of us, the first thing that catches our notice is the ever-present smile on her face. When I could no longer suppress my curiosity, I asked Guy about her habit of smiling on the floor.
“I love what I’m doing,” she stated. “We all have stressful jobs, but when I do this, it’s just fun.”
Even when people are yelling in every direction, a smile goes a long way toward defusing the tension. Among the first to notice are the coaches. It didn’t take long to find a coach who could speak to the impact Guy’s demeanor has on a game.
Guy may have one built-in advantage when it comes to understanding basketball coaches, as she’s married to a basketball coach. But, the truth of the matter is that Guy was reffing state tournament games long before she was married to David Guy. Having a live-in sounding board for input, perspectives, and ideas helps, as they do have discussions about everything from rules to game situations.
Fresh out of the University of Northern Colorado, Guy moved to Florida and found herself in need of a job. Officiating basketball games provided a direct path to opportunity, but she didn’t stop there.
“I wanted to be a Division I official,” she admitted. “I went to every officials camp and attended every clinic I could to get better and get noticed by college assigners.”
And, yes, she did get noticed. She found work with, among others, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Before long, she was noticed by the NCAA Division I Missouri Valley Conference. The assigner was ready to put her on staff, but life interrupted. It was about the same time that Guy got married and the couple’s first child followed soon thereafter.
The Missouri Valley Conference’s loss became CHSAA’s gain. Acceding to the demands of motherhood, Guy stepped out of officiating for a couple of years.
“I came back to work junior and high school ball as a hobby,” she said. “And now, I’m still here today.”
Some hobby.
She confesses, however, that she’s starting to pull back from this role as life, once again, intervenes.
“I’ve taken a back seat this year so the other Area Directors can take over once I’m done,” she explained. “It’s been a great experience and a way to give back what others have done for me over the years, [but] my son will be in high school next year and my daughter in middle school, so I will be slowing down on officiating. Although I still would like to do some games, if possible.”
To that last statement, way too many folks are left scratching their heads and wondering what “if possible” might conceivably mean.
It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise the Guy relishes officiating the tightest and most intensely contested games. Asked to probe her memories for a particularly exciting game, she recounts the details of one particular evening:
“I can remember working up at ThunderRidge a couple of years ago. It was an Elite 8 boys game versus Heritage. ThunderRidge was ranked No. 1 and Heritage was 15. The game was a packed house, loud, and the fans were going crazy. We could feel the excitement all around us. I was the head ref that night, having to toss the ball between two boys who were 6’7” and me being 5’6”. All I kept telling myself was to toss it high and straight. I have the evidence it was right on point. The game turned out to be a two-point contest with Heritage almost pulling it off. We walked off the court that night thinking ‘if this was our very last game of officiating it was worth it!'”
One would like to think there are a few more such games left in Guy’s whistle. Colorado high school basketball will be a better place to hang out if there are. 
