Hearn Family Ball

By Tabitha Ervin
FWIS Editorial Director

I was recently able to catch up with the Hearn family, Crane, Tonya and Sydney. I have known this family almost the entire 16 years I’ve been in Fort Wayne. I coached basketball at Prince Chapman Middle School at the beginning of my time in this community and Tonya would come to referee games with young Sydney in tow. As I attended and supported girls' high school games I then met Crane.

As my life and work changed, I stopped coaching but never lost my love of the sport and continued to attend games around the city.

Fast forward, Sydney spent time on my staff team at the YMCA and moved into reffing herself alongside her parents.

With many combined years of experience, Crane with 29, Tonya with 17 and now Sydney with 6, this family has capitalized on both basketball and volleyball which Tonya started first and brought the other two along. I was intrigued by this family referee trio who are all independent contractors in these sports. Sometimes they end up at the same school and even the same game, but they now officiate games in Fort Wayne and all around the Midwest including womens college, boys and girls volleyball and basketball, college line judging, wheelchair basketball and Sydney has refereed in the TBL Men’s Pro League. This incredible family journey started first with Crane officiating and Tonya was attending games as she had reffed a little as well as coached at several schools locally. Her transition from coaching to reffing was pretty easy and at the time, she wanted to attend their son Reggie’s games and reffing allowed her a more flexible schedule than coaching did.

As I sat and talked with the family, I learned about all the other ways they invest their time which include a RefTime Podcast where Sydney says, “it brings the basketball community together” as they talk about officiating as well as bring on coaches and officials as guests. The family also has a Referee Training school which Crane started 12 years ago. The class has been hosted along with various organizations all around the city including two of the YMCA’s, Sport ONE, Harvester Church and Empowered for volleyball. Through the classes, they offer training and support for those looking to become basketball or volleyball referees.

Currently, they are hosting a group learning about volleyball and have open enrollment for a basketball group starting in October. The classes are held quarterly and the benefits include anywhere from 8-15 classroom hours depending on the sport (basketball, 15 hours and volleyball, 8-12 hours). The classes go over the rule books, mechanics and on-court positioning. The biggest component is building confidence and learning how to communicate with coaches, players, fans and others as well as learning how to think and analyze the game before, during and after as Sydney shared she constantly does. Typically, people take the test after they have completed Ref Training School. Sydney actually went through the program under the strong encouragement of her parents and now she’s glad she did. Both Crane and Tonya told stories of people who they have supported and seen grow through the program. More info about Ref Training School can be found at www.reftrainingschool.com.

Lastly, the family has just started “Hoosier3on3” in which they will be hosting tournaments and leagues. They hosted their first tournament in July at Turnstone and it was a success with 20 teams participating. They look to hold another tournament in December with more information to follow. Online registration can be found at www.hoosier3on3.com.

I enjoyed my time with the Hearn family and look forward to seeing more from them!