Ed Goetz (Photo provided)

LATHAM — Last summer’s ceremony was put off because of the coronavirus pandemic, but this July, Ed Goetz of Saranac Lake will be formally inducted into the Hall of Fame of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.

The retired referee is one of six members of the hall’s Class of 2020. The other five are Diane Chapman (coach, Section VIII), Carl Normandin (administrator, Section X), Sharon Sarsen (coach, Section I), Karen (O’Connor) Self (athlete, Section I) and Marie Terc (official, Section VIII).

The NYSPHSAA Hall of Fame is foregoing a Class of 2021 induction and is instead giving delayed honor to its Class of 2020. The induction will take place on Wednesday, July 28 at Resorts World Catskills.

Goetz devoted more than 35 years to a career he loved as a basketball and football official until his retirement in 2012. He began officiating in 1976, starting with boys high school basketball. Three years later, he moved over to girls basketball and later stepped onto the football field as a high school referee. He also worked women’s college basketball, and during the last 10 years on the job, he traveled around the Northeast refereeing at the Division III and Division IAA (now FCS) college football levels, which included games in the Ivy and Patriot leagues.

Goetz refereed football and girls basketball for a combined 68 seasons dating back to 1977. In a long career that has seen him also officiate the same two sports at the collegiate level for decades, Ed was known to be the benchmark for excellence in football and basketball across the state.

On 13 occasions he was selected to officiate in the NYSPHSAA girls basketball state tournament, and three of those years he advanced to officiate the New York State Federation Basketball Tournament of Champions. He was selected as the Section X Official of the Year five times during that span.

Off the court, he served as president (three terms) and interpreter of the Northern New York Girls Basketball Officials Association, and president of the New York State Girls Basketball Officials Association from 2007-09. In football, he spent 33 years as a certified official refereeing both Section X and VII games. Nine times he was chosen to officiate the NYSPHSAA Football State Tournament, with three of those years seeing him go all the way to the Carrier Dome to officiate the state finals. He was recognized in 1999 with the Merit Award from the Section VII Association of Coaches Officials.

While he was a referee, Goetz also worked for more than 20 years in the New York state corrections department as a recreation leader, starting at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora and then moving to Adirondack Correctional in Ray Brook.

A lifelong Saranac Lake resident, Goetz graduated from Saranac Lake High School and SUNY Brockport. He and his wife Susan have two sons, Brian and Steve, both married, and five grandchildren.