White makes high school hall of fame
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
CARIBOU — Bob White has received many prestigious honors over the years, but the latest one puts him in the national spotlight.
Bob White 
and his family leave Saturday for Nashville, Tenn., where he is being inducted into the National Federation of State High School Association’s National High School Hall of Fame.
“It’s the highest honor anyone involved in high school activities can earn,” White said. “I received the call on the last day of February and just said ‘wow.’”
White, 74, is one of just two officials being inducted into this year’s Hall of Fame class. White officiated soccer in the state of Maine for 31 years and worked 17 state championship games during his tenure. He was the state’s soccer rules interpreter for 28 years. He estimated officiating 1,300 games at all levels during his career.
White was named referee of the year in 2002 by the National Interscholastic Soccer Officials Association, which at the time was a division of the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association.
He received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Federation Officials Association in 1993 for Section I, which included the New England states as well as New York and New Jersey. He served on the NFOA Section I board of directors from 1998-2002.
Among the other special honors bestowed upon White include induction into the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997, the Maine Sports Hall of Fame’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 2003 and induction into the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors in 2005.
He has also been honored with special recognition from the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and the Maine Principals’ Association.
It was the MPA that nominated White for his latest honor, and he said he was grateful for the gesture.
“I want to thank them for nominating me, filling out the required nomination forms and recommendations and for their support and encouragement during the whole process,” White said.
“Just being nominated is in itself an honor which is quite humbling, considering all the great individuals involved in high school activities in the state of Maine over the years.”
Veteran basketball official Peter Webb is the only other Maine native to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The National High School Hall of Fame was started in 1982 to honor high school athletes, coaches, contest officials, administrators, performing arts coaches/directors and others for their extraordinary achievements and accomplishments in high school sports and activity programs. This year’s class brings the number in the Hall of Fame to 398.
The 12 individuals were chosen after a two-level selection process involving a screening committee composed of active high school state association administrators, coaches and officials, and a final selection committee composed of coaches, former athletes, state association officials, media representatives and educational leaders.
“Seeing people who have been inducted over the years … I’m still in awe,” White said.
In addition to the soccer officiating, White is known in Caribou for his work with the town’s very successful Little League baseball program. He was involved in the league for approximately 40 years, including serving as president from 1978-97 and vice president from 2005-07. He was named Maine Recreation and Parks Association Citizen of the Year in 1983 and Caribou Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year a year later.
“Robert P. White Day” was declared by the City of Caribou on July 12, 1997. One of the two Little League fields in Caribou is named in his honor.
White is a native of Ludlow, Mass. and a graduate of Springfield College. He was in education for 35 years – seven at Patten Academy, one each at Houlton and Bridgewater Classical Academy, and the final 26 at Limestone. He retired in 1991 and has been employed at Caribou Shop ’n Save since.
He and his wife, Karen, have two children – Mark, athletic administrator for SAD 1 in Presque Isle, and Susan, principal at Caribou Middle School.
“I’m certainly looking forward to the trip and am thankful for the support of my family over the years,” White said.
Joining White in the 2012 class are Kevin Johnson and Fred Hoiberg, standout athletes in California and Iowa, respectively, who both went on to play in the National Basketball Association; Truman Owens, a long-time official from South Carolina who has worked 858 football games and 2,900 basketball games and has also officiated baseball for 46 years and softball for 23; Ron Bradley, a coach who won more than 1,000 high school basketball games in Georgia over a 49-year career; Bob Kanaby, longtime executive director of the NFHS; Pat Sullivan, a two-time all-state quarterback in Alabama who went on to win the Heisman Award at Auburn University; Tracy Hill, the most prolific scorer in Colorado girls basketball history; Rod Harman, who just finished his 54th year as a head swimming coach in Oregon; Larry Luitjens, the winningest basketball coach in South Dakota history; Catherine Neely, who has coached volleyball in Tennessee for 47 years and has won 1,371 matches, which ranks her third all-time; and Jan Heiteen, a speech coach from Illinois whose teams have won 14 state speech championships since 1980.
The induction ceremony and accompanying activities during the 93rd NFHS Summer Meeting are taking place at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center.
