Ron Van Soest: An official legend

Spent 40 years officiating basketball games in Whatcom, neighboring counties

By Nathan Schumock Sports Editor

LYNDEN — Ron Van Soest loves the game of basketball. He used that love to officiate the community’s basketball athletes for the greater part of 40 years.

Van Soest started reffing high school basketball games in the mid-1980s, but he got his start when he was a 16-year-old playing ball for LC. His basketball coach was the late Garris Timmer, who also happened to be the chemistry teacher at LC. One day, Timmer asked Van Soest if he wanted to go to the middle school and work as a ref for intramural teams. Initially, Van Soest was against the idea, but Timmer offered to let him skip chemistry and Van Soest had his first opportunity to officiate a game.

Following high school, Van Soest helped start a Lynden basketball city league. While he was running the league, he grabbed the attention of the LC and Lynden high school athletic administrators and they asked him if he wanted to start officiating freshman and JV basketball games.

While he was reffing for the freshman and JV, Van Soest was recruited by the high school referees to join them. Van Soest rose up through the ranks and much to his chagrin, was elected president of the Northwest Board of Basketball Officials.

One night, Van Soest was working as a softball umpire at Meridian and he had an officials board meeting in Oak Harbor the same night. The softball game went to extra innings, so he arrived late and once he got there, they had a surprise for him.

“I got there late, so I showed up and they said, ‘Congratulations, you are the new president,’” Van Soest said in a joking manner. “I go well, ‘I don’t want to be president.’”

The board decided they wanted someone young, so Van Soest landed the job and held onto it up until now. Even though he did not want the job at the start, he said it has been a mostly good experience. His presidency will end in June after more than 30 years of service.

Van Soest stopped actively reffing basketball in 2020 after COVID-19 hit. He said it felt like a good time to hang it up as he was getting older and had trouble managing the physical expectations.

During his time as a ref, Van Soest covered numerous state tournaments, which he said was his favorite part of the job.

“I sure enjoyed doing it, and the really fun time for me was the playoffs, like districts, regional and state tournaments,” Van Soest said. “That just made it really fun, and I watched a lot of Lynden Christian, Lynden games and those were always barn burners.”

Being a referee can be a grueling task, with long nights and drives taking people far from their homes. To stay in the game, ambition and care for the sport is necessary.

“I played basketball in high school and I love basketball. For years I played in the city league, so it was just the love of the sport and a desire to give back to the sport. It is also a personal challenge,” Van Soest said.

Van Soest also worked as a softball and baseball umpire for a part of his career but eventually did not have time to cover those sports.

Now he spends his time driving a truck transporting different materials around the Pacific Northwest for something to do. But Van Soest said he misses reffing high school basketball.

He said, “When I go to watch a basketball game, I wish I could be out there.”

-- Contact Nathan Schumock at nathan@lyndentribune.com.