Since 1965, serving members of the Minnesota State High School League by providing high school officials in baseball, basketball, football, and softball and educating officials who are members of the association.
Click here to read important updates from Gopher,
last updated April 30, 2025 and includes information about the
Bozo Wincek Award being given to Donald Adderley, the 2025 Rookie of the Year Awards,
changes to the Board of Directors and the bylaws, and a new code of conduct.
April 30, 2025
At the Gopher Board meeting on Sunday, April 27, the Board took the following actions:
Awarded the 2025 Bozo Wincek Award to Donald Adderley.
Awarded the 2025 Rookie of the Year Awards to:
Baseball – Ryan Bellefy
Basketball – Drew Burau
Football – Jason Rutten
Softball – Alexis Walker
Following the resignation from the Board of Eric Gray, approved Matt Olson as an At Large board position and vacated the Football Representative position.
There will be a vacancy in the Football Representative position until the football meeting this fall, when a new representative will be elected.
Approved Scott Schimetz as Gopher's new Treasurer.
Established a code of conduct for the Association's officials.
Established standing committees for each sport, charged with training of current officials and recruiting of new officials for their sport.
Named Rick Baker the Association's new clinician for basketball with the departure of Craig Laird from that position.
April 8, 2025
On March 22 at the Class A Boys Basketball Championship game, longtime Gopher official Harvey Scheffert was presented with the MSHSL Distinguished Service Award for his service to Gopher State Officials and the officiating community of Minnesota.
The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) award allows the MSHSL the opportunity to honor individuals who have gone above and beyond in service to their Association and the student athletes who officiate high school sports. It is awarded to only a few officials each year, anywhere between four and eight officials from across the state annually. The awards go to officials throughout the state who have demonstrated support, leadership, and “extra” for their association and their community.
Harvey is very deserving of this recognition. He officiated for Gopher state officials for four decades, from 1970 to 2010, all with Gopher State. Harvey was a great ambassador for helping out the newer official- never being “above” the newer official. Harvey worked diligently and regularly, officiating hundreds of varsity contests for approximately 35 years.
Harvey was always first class with his communication/interactions with fellow officials, coaches, the scorer's table, site managers, spectators, and athletic directors. He went above and beyond for everyone to feel like they mattered, because they mattered to Harvey.
Congratulations to Harvey Scheffert on the 2025 Distinguished Service Award, and thank you for your service to officiating in the state of Minnesota!
Previous winners for Gopher State Officials include:
2010 Don Bertek - Inaugural Year of Awards
2011 Steve Makowske
2012 Arnie Mavis
2013 Mike Madden
2014 Bozo Wincek
2015 Greg Swan and Jacki Wincek
2016 Paul Nesvig and Michelle (Wincek) Schneider
2017 John Monson
2018 Clark Worthington
2019 Tim Litfin
2020 No event
2021 Mark Stange
2022 George Winn
2023 Rick DeGardner
2024 Gary Sipe
Pictures below.
Last updated December 20, 2024
A tribute page for Gopher's longtime leader Bozo Wincek has been added to the site. It is available here, or under the "About" tab up above.
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