From left to right, Jake, Nate, Denny and Matt.
By Scott VanSickle
LocalSportsJournal.com
Football has always been a family affair for the Daniceks.
It started with fathers coaching their sons either at the youth or high school level, and now they have found another way to be around the game they love while being able to keep that same family connection - officiating.
It starts with Denny Danicek, who is the patriarch of the family and has spent the better part of four decades as an official from the youth all the way to the high school levels. And this year he’s put together an all-Danicek officiating crew with his sons Nate and Shaun, grandsons Jacob and Matt, and great nephew Stephen.
Denny heads up the crew as “the white hat,” as he’s called by Shaun, with Matt at umpire, Nate and Jacob as the linesman and line judge, and Stephen and Shaun split duties as back judge.
But it took a comment from an official to Denny at a youth game many years ago that stuck with him and set this whole thing in motion.
“(My start in officiating) goes way back. I used to give the refs a hard time when my kids played. Well, one of the refs said to me, ‘If you think you can do better, you should register.’ And I took that with me,” Denny said.
And once Nate and Shaun had moved into school ball, Denny got his start and cut his teeth in the Saturday youth football circuit. It didn’t take long for Nate and Shaun to follow once they graduated from Fruitport, as both returned home from college to make some extra cash reffing those same youth football games.
After Nate and Shaun graduated and started their careers, they moved into the coaching side of the game while Denny continued to work his way up the officiating ladder. Nate started coaching in 2000 at Oakridge, dusted off the whistle for the 2009-10 seasons, returned with current coach Cary Harger in 2011, and stayed until his younger son Matt graduated in 2023. Shaun spent 14 years as a coach at Fruitport and Orchard View, but now spends his free time following his children in their athletic endeavors. Stephen has Orchard View connections and has made his way on to the crew after spending time in the military. Jacob, like Matt, played football at Oakridge before graduating in 2021.
But it took until this year for everything to align to bring these six Daniceks together on the football field. It started with getting the crew together, and naturally Denny took the leadership role as the crew chief as the veteran. But then the real work starts as Denny has to fill the schedule, which can be up to three-four days a week with middle school games on Wednesdays, JV games on Thursdays, and varsity matchups on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Danicek crew uses several different schedulers to get games on their calendar, including West Michigan Conference assigner Ken Diamond, Dave Driscoll of the newly-formed River City Alliance, Ed Phillipson and Chuck Hulce. The crew works a wide territory with its Week 9 schedule consisting of a middle school game at Oakridge on Wednesday, the Portland-Whitehall JV game Thursday and the Remus Chippewa Hills-Lakeview game on Friday.
Even with the extensive travel of an official, the time commitment is far less than that of a high school coach. But Nate and Shaun also both noted that spending years on the sideline as a coach gives them a unique advantage to officiating.
“It gives you an appreciation of what officials go through. You know why plays are run and what teams are trying to do, and where the advantages are trying to be gained,” said Nate. “As a coach, you don’t have as much time (to officiate). It’s a way to give back. It’s been beneficial and we look forward to it.”
Shaun agreed, adding “the successful programs are looking for advantages, and as a coach, you know what the offense and defense are trying to accomplish.”
The family officiating teams are not limited to just football. Denny, a Whitehall graduate, also has been a fixture at basketball, baseball and softball games. Nate said he and Denny will be working baseball games this season, while Denny and Stephen have some basketball games together this winter, while Jacob and Matt are also registered as baseball umpires.
“We’ve got a love of football. It’s given me a lot of opportunities. I’ve gotten to coach my kids, and on the flipside now I’m reffing with my kids, my dad, my brother and my cousin,” Nate said.
As one would expect, Denny has seen his share of big games and has seen some of the area’s best players over his time as an official. The longtime ref has done many district level games and made it all the way up to working a regional final, all while doing Division 8 games with 100 people in the stands to the biggest schools like Hudsonville where “the bleachers stretch up to the sky.” But Denny will continue to officiate games as long as his body will allow and will get to do it with his family, being a part of the sport they love.
“Right now, it’s on a year-by-year basis. Basketball would be the first to go, it’s so hard on your body,” Denny said.
And the Danicek crew of football officials will continue to follow the lead and example set by Denny. Perhaps a small thank you is also set aside for the official that challenged Denny all those years ago and set the stage for one area family to create memories together while serving the game they all got so much from.
LocalSportsJournal.com
Football has always been a family affair for the Daniceks.
It started with fathers coaching their sons either at the youth or high school level, and now they have found another way to be around the game they love while being able to keep that same family connection - officiating.
It starts with Denny Danicek, who is the patriarch of the family and has spent the better part of four decades as an official from the youth all the way to the high school levels. And this year he’s put together an all-Danicek officiating crew with his sons Nate and Shaun, grandsons Jacob and Matt, and great nephew Stephen.
Denny heads up the crew as “the white hat,” as he’s called by Shaun, with Matt at umpire, Nate and Jacob as the linesman and line judge, and Stephen and Shaun split duties as back judge.
But it took a comment from an official to Denny at a youth game many years ago that stuck with him and set this whole thing in motion.
“(My start in officiating) goes way back. I used to give the refs a hard time when my kids played. Well, one of the refs said to me, ‘If you think you can do better, you should register.’ And I took that with me,” Denny said.
And once Nate and Shaun had moved into school ball, Denny got his start and cut his teeth in the Saturday youth football circuit. It didn’t take long for Nate and Shaun to follow once they graduated from Fruitport, as both returned home from college to make some extra cash reffing those same youth football games.
After Nate and Shaun graduated and started their careers, they moved into the coaching side of the game while Denny continued to work his way up the officiating ladder. Nate started coaching in 2000 at Oakridge, dusted off the whistle for the 2009-10 seasons, returned with current coach Cary Harger in 2011, and stayed until his younger son Matt graduated in 2023. Shaun spent 14 years as a coach at Fruitport and Orchard View, but now spends his free time following his children in their athletic endeavors. Stephen has Orchard View connections and has made his way on to the crew after spending time in the military. Jacob, like Matt, played football at Oakridge before graduating in 2021.
But it took until this year for everything to align to bring these six Daniceks together on the football field. It started with getting the crew together, and naturally Denny took the leadership role as the crew chief as the veteran. But then the real work starts as Denny has to fill the schedule, which can be up to three-four days a week with middle school games on Wednesdays, JV games on Thursdays, and varsity matchups on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Danicek crew uses several different schedulers to get games on their calendar, including West Michigan Conference assigner Ken Diamond, Dave Driscoll of the newly-formed River City Alliance, Ed Phillipson and Chuck Hulce. The crew works a wide territory with its Week 9 schedule consisting of a middle school game at Oakridge on Wednesday, the Portland-Whitehall JV game Thursday and the Remus Chippewa Hills-Lakeview game on Friday.
Even with the extensive travel of an official, the time commitment is far less than that of a high school coach. But Nate and Shaun also both noted that spending years on the sideline as a coach gives them a unique advantage to officiating.
“It gives you an appreciation of what officials go through. You know why plays are run and what teams are trying to do, and where the advantages are trying to be gained,” said Nate. “As a coach, you don’t have as much time (to officiate). It’s a way to give back. It’s been beneficial and we look forward to it.”
Shaun agreed, adding “the successful programs are looking for advantages, and as a coach, you know what the offense and defense are trying to accomplish.”
The family officiating teams are not limited to just football. Denny, a Whitehall graduate, also has been a fixture at basketball, baseball and softball games. Nate said he and Denny will be working baseball games this season, while Denny and Stephen have some basketball games together this winter, while Jacob and Matt are also registered as baseball umpires.
“We’ve got a love of football. It’s given me a lot of opportunities. I’ve gotten to coach my kids, and on the flipside now I’m reffing with my kids, my dad, my brother and my cousin,” Nate said.
As one would expect, Denny has seen his share of big games and has seen some of the area’s best players over his time as an official. The longtime ref has done many district level games and made it all the way up to working a regional final, all while doing Division 8 games with 100 people in the stands to the biggest schools like Hudsonville where “the bleachers stretch up to the sky.” But Denny will continue to officiate games as long as his body will allow and will get to do it with his family, being a part of the sport they love.
“Right now, it’s on a year-by-year basis. Basketball would be the first to go, it’s so hard on your body,” Denny said.
And the Danicek crew of football officials will continue to follow the lead and example set by Denny. Perhaps a small thank you is also set aside for the official that challenged Denny all those years ago and set the stage for one area family to create memories together while serving the game they all got so much from.
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