Watching people win and now he is winning.

Due to his ratings by his coaches and his evaluators, John Edelen was rated number one in the association this year.

This is Edelen’s first time winning this award. Receiving the award has left Edelen humbled and has given him a lot of pride. Edelen’s goal for next year is make it back to the state tournament, but with an even bigger goal to work a regional final game.

Edelen has been refereeing for many years, viewing the game differently than a typical fan would.  There is a lot of hard work put into it and gaining a lot of experience being on the floor and refereeing the teams over a period of time. Ultimately, the referees do not work for either team, they focus on making each play right and not favor one team over the other.

Edelen has been humbled by his award. With this award has came a lot of pride for Edelen, because there are many talented officials in the Louisville area. “I was rewarded for being rated number one. Generally speaking, some of the top officials get the opportunity to go work the state tournament, and being rated number one, I was selected to go work the state tournament in Lexington,” said Edelen.

Edelen doesn’t consider himself the “best”, but feels blessed nonetheless. “…But I’ll take it! And I feel blessed to have that opportunity,” said Edelen.

Now that Edelen has the award, the year is at an end and they will go into next year all on the same level playing field.  “A big goal of mine every year, is to work a regional final game,” said Edelen. His primary goal is to go back to the state tournament once again.