FC staff member recieves award
By Brittany Brownrigg, February 25, 2010
Barbara Chambers – the administrative assistant for finance, planning and employee resources at Franklin College – received an award this month celebrating her excellence in swimming officiating.
A statewide committee selected Chambers for the 2009-2010 Outstanding IHSAA/NFOA Swimming Officials Award given by the Indiana High School Athletics Association and the National Federation Officials Association.
Chambers started officiating swim meets in Seattle, WA 24 years ago when her oldest son, Thomas, took up the sport. She said that it took 12 hours for her son to compete in four events. Chambers was asked if she wanted to learn how to officiate and said yes.
“Sitting in the bleachers was not my thing,” Chambers said.
Chambers moved to Indiana in 1993 and continued to develop her passion even after her son stopped swimming.
“I just love it,” Chambers said. “I love watching the kids compete, breaking their records, setting new records (and) learning for the first time.”
Although Chambers never swam competitively, the sport of swimming has given her many opportunities. Over the years Chambers has gotten to officiate several large meets including four different Olympic trials and three Big Ten Championships.
Chambers said that her favorite part of officiating has been watching and officiating Michael Phelps.
“He is just amazing in the water … He just makes it look so easy,” Chambers said.
Swimming has allowed Chambers to travel to various competitions around the United States. She said that Florida was the neatest place swimming has taken her.
“The Hall of Fame meet in Florida … is really neat,” Chambers said. “It’s got a lot of history and it’s got a lot of memorabilia there … that is always neat to see.”
Chambers has been working at Franklin for 15 years. She encouraged students to attend Franklin’s swim meets. Chambers also said that head coach Andy Hendricks has contacted her about officiating Franklin’s home meets next year and that she would love to do the job.
Add Comment
There are currently no comments.
You must log in or register to post comments.