Former player turns to officiating to stay in game Published July 18, 2008 By Amanda Creel 78 ABW/PA Robins Air Force Base, GA -- For many athletes, growing older means watching our favorite sports from the bleachers, but for Terrance Isom staying off the basketball court was not an option. This is why Isom started tearing up the courts as a basketball official in the late 1990s. "I didn't want to give it up totally. This was my way to stay in the game," said Isom, an electrical engineer for C-17 system support management squadron here. He started thanks to a nudge from a fellow Robins employee, who had seen Isom's passion for the game when he played intramurals here. His first bout with officiating was for Robins intramural and youth sports. Since then, he has continued to excel and graduate to different levels of officiating including high school, junior college and Division II colleges throughout the Southeast. "I never thought about being an official before. I was probably harder on them than anyone else," Isom said. He quickly added that he didn't know what he was talking about back then. "It's kind of fun having them ripping at me. I know how much I didn't know and I know how much they think they know," Isom said. It was his work as a high school official that recently earned him state-wide attention when he was named the high school basketball official of the year for the state of Georgia. Isom said his selection came as a complete surprise because he wasn't even aware he had been nominated. He said he thinks the key to his success as an official is that he, "genuinely likes doing it." Those who have officiated beside him or whose schools have been subjected to his calls are equally pleased with his selection. "I think it was a well-deserved recognition. He is a top-notch collegiate and high school official," said Alan Smith, executive director of the Georgia Athletic Officials Association, who oversaw the selection process. Smith said it is Isom's people skills and ability to call games fairly on both ends of the court that made him a good candidate for the award. "He is the kind of official who can get in a testy situation and handle it and keep the game on an even keel," said Smith, who has also officiated with Isom on the college level. The Wilkinson County High School basketball coach, Aaron Geter, said he always looks forward to seeing Isom on the court because he regards him as an "ultimate professional." "He knows the rules and regulations and he is always in the right place and generally makes the right calls," Geter said. "He calls the game as he sees it and maintains the flow of the game."