Cox honored by IHSA for 50 years as high school sports official

It’s appropriate Dick Cox received a watch from the IHSA to commemorate 50 years of service as a track and field official.

After all, time is of the essence when it comes to that sport.

The life-long Sterling resident was among those honored when the IHSA held its officials conference this past July in East Peoria. More than 500 officials from across the state attended.

“It was pretty nice to stand up in front of all those officials and be recognized,” Cox said.

Cox, 81, got his start as a track official in 1966, while working for the Sterling Park District. Frank Duis was the starter for the park district’s track program at the time, and Cox was his assistant.

“He was getting to where he wanted to quit, and I just kind of took over,” Cox said. “It just took off from there.”

Cox estimated he has been the starter for more than a thousand track and field meets, be it indoors or outdoors, over the last 50 years. He has built up a reputation over that time.

“Nowadays when I go to a track meet, coaches say, ‘Oh, here comes Cox, we’re going to get a fair shake,’” Cox said. “They know I treat everybody equal.”

That’s not to say there aren’t issues from time to time, and Cox has to put his foot down.

“This past season, I was doing a 4-by-2 relay,” Cox said. “This guy came flying across the field and he says, ‘I got interfered with. My team got interfered with over there.’ I said, ‘Was an umpire over there?’ No. I said, ‘Who saw it?’ Well, I did. I said, ‘Well, that don’t count, coach.’ He just kept going on. I said, ‘Coach, one more word, and you’ll take your team and yourself, and you’ll get on your bus.’

“There was a guy sitting in the bleachers. He goes, ‘Coach, he means it.’ He shut up and walked back across the field.”

Cox is not only the starter for races, but also the referee. He’s the one with the final say should problems arise.

“You’ve got to know your rules pretty good, because as a referee, if you have disputes, they’ll come over and argue with you,” Cox said. “In 50 years, I was very fortunate. I didn’t have a whole lot of disputes.”

Cox had planned for the spring of of 2017 to be his last year as a track starter, but he is still receiving contracts in the mail to work meets next spring. He plans to work about 10 meets, maybe 12, and not the 15 per month that he had been doing.

“I just do it because it’s something I like,” Cox said. “When it stops being fun, then I’ll quit.”

Cox was also a football official for 32 years, from 1966 to 1998. He was part of a 3-man crew, with fellow Sterling residents Bob Bradley and Tim Cox (no relation) for the first 7 of those years. Another Sterling official, Jim Ahling, joined the crew in 1973.

“Age caught up with us and we couldn’t keep up with the kids anymore,” Cox said. “We had to quit. I was in my early 60s when I gave up football.”