Clarence Thompson

Over 40 years of officiating in the sports of basketball and football – As a sports official, Thompson has directly impacted thousands of Alaska’s high school students and coaches, both on and off the field. For over 40 years, Thompson has advanced the standard of sports officiating in Alaska through his leadership, encouragement of sportsmanship and discipline and commitment of excellence. By doing so, Thompson has demonstrated the highest attributes of a positive role model for students.

Thompson served two terms as President of the Anchorage Football Officials Association where he instituted a system of effective written evaluations and numerical rankings to assist members in assessing areas of deficiencies. Working in partnership with the school district and administration, he actively recruited the necessary resources to provide adequate dressing facilities; and negotiated pay increases for sports officials He also served on other sports boards where he influenced decision making processes and addressed various concerns such as member representation in policy changes, and the general direction of the associations.

Thompson has officiated multiple Alaska high school semi-final and championship football games including three straight DI high school games. Fellow official Robert Mcmillian states, “These high caliber, high visibility, and high stakes games are normally reserved for the best officials and are true indicators for the cream of the crop Alaskan sports officials. As a multiple sports official, Mr. Thompson was also a cream of the crop official in basketball.” Another fellow official adds “His level perspective and demeanor has set the tone on the court and gridiron for many years with the simple tenant that sports should be a fun environment for all participants. In some way, we as players, coaches, fans and officials have all been influenced by Clarence Thompson and the positive impact he has had on the games he officiates.”

Due to shortage of high school football officials (especially high caliber officials), Thompson can still be found officiating high school games. In doing so he continues to mentor countless other officials on the traits that made him outstanding, including integrity, fairness, stability, and sound judgment.