Pac-12 Conference

PAC-12 CONFERENCE STAFF TONY CORRENTE Tony Corrente was appointed Coordinator of Football Officiating in June 2011. He officiated 20 seasons as a collegiate official, including 13 seasons at the Division I level. He has spent 16 seasons in the National Football League where he has been awarded the opportunity to officiate in the NFL postseason as either an on field official or as an alternate in 15 of his 16 seasons with the league. His postseason assignments have included two NFL Europe "World Bowls", two American Bowls (Sydney and Tokyo), the Pro Bowl, three Conference Championships and a pair of Super Bowls (XL and XLI). Outside of his officiating profession, Corrente has earned his bachelors degree from Cal State Fullerton, and a masters degree in educa- tion from Azusa Pacific University. He is currently a high school educator in social sciences. ED RUSH Ed Rush was appointed Coordinator of Men's Basketball Officiating in May 2012. The long-time National Basketball Association's Direc- tor of Officiating was most recently one of the NBA's recruiting and development directors for officials. Rush served as a consultant to the Pac-12 men's basketball officiating program since 2007 with a focus on the training and development of the officiating staff. Since 2003, Rush has been responsible for the ongoing recruitment, training and career development of the officiating staff of the NBA, WNBA and NBA-D League. From 1998-2003, he was the Director of Officiating for the NBA and oversaw the development of the WNBA of- ficiating program. Prior to joining the NBA league office, Rush spent 32 seasons on the court, officiating over 2,000 regular season games, 247 playoff and 32 NBA Finals games from 1966-67 through 1996-97. In 2009, Rush was named by Referee Magazine as one of the 50 most influential people in sports officiating history. VIOLET PALMER A pioneer in refereeing, Violet Palmer was named the Conference's Coordinator of Women's Basketball Officiating in May 2010. The first woman to officiate a major U.S. professional sport at the highest level when she became a referee in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1997, Palmer has been on the NBA's officiating roster for 13 years and is the only woman among the league's officiating staff. Palmer has officiated NBA playoff games and the WNBA Championships. Prior to joining the professional ranks, she spent nine seasons officiating at the collegiate level, including five NCAA Women's Final Fours and two National Championship games. Palmer's duties with the Pac-12 will include implementing the Conference's officiating program, as well as identifying, recruiting and assigning referees. Palmer's strength and focus on education and training will further develop the Conference's officials and elevate them to the next level. Palmer is a native of Los Angeles and a four-year letterwinner at Cal Poly Pomona where she led the Broncos to the 1985 and 1986 NCAA crowns. DAN PEDERSEN Dan Pedersen was named Coordinator of Baseball Officiating in July 2002. He spent 24 years as an NCAA Division I umpire and retired from the field in 2003. He has worked five College World Series (youngest at age 26) and more than twenty NCAA regional championships. He also worked the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba, and is a former professional umpire. Prior to joining the Pac-12 staff, Pedersen served as Supervisor of Baseball Umpires for the Western Athletic Conference. Under his guidance, the WAC program became one of the most successful in the nation. There is a tremendous contrast between his professional career and his baseball career. Dan spent 17 years managing programs within the space launch industry and is now serving in a senior management position developing and manufacturing the next generation of advanced avionics. Pedersen holds a bachelor of science degree in business management. He and his wife, Melissa, have two children, Brady and Alyssa, and reside in San Diego, Calif. JOANNE VENDITTO Joanne Venditto was appointed the newly created Coordinator of Softball Officiating in June 2003. She brings more than two decades of experience with assigning and coordinating softball programs, including 10 years at the Division I level. From 2001-03, Venditto served as Softball Umpire Liaison for the Pac-10, helping to facilitate communication between Pac-12 coaches and umpires, disseminating playing rule interpretations and assisting in the standardization of umpiring mechanics. She spent two years as Coordinator of Softball Umpires for the Big West Conference and has also assigned for the California Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAA), the NAIA and the Western State Community College Conference. In addition to her work with conferences, Venditto coordinated four workshops in 2002-03 as part of the NCAA Umpire Development Program. As an official, she worked full Division I and Division II schedules from 1980-1991. Venditto holds a degree in recreation administration from California State University Northridge. SANDRA HUNT Sandra Hunt was named Coordinator of Women's Soccer Officiating in April of 2009. Her duties include implementing the Conference's officiating program in women's soccer, as well as identifying, recruiting, training, assigning and evaluating referees for matches at Pac-12 institutions. Hunt spent 17 years as an on-field official before retiring in 2004, representing the United States on officiating crews at a number of in- ternational events, including the 1999 and 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, and the 2000 Olympic Games. Her experiences cover all levels of soccer, including the collegiate level where she was assigned the national championship game at the NCAA Women's College Cup twice. In 1998, she became one of the first two women to referee a game in Major League Soccer (MLS) and has also officiated in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) professional league. She is one of only 23 United States Soccer Federation (U.S.S.F.) national assessors designated a match inspector and is currently serving on the Board of Directorship for the U.S. Soccer Committee, National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) and Whatcom Sports Commis- sion. Hunt a graduate of Seattle Pacific University with a degree in leisure and recreation. CHARLIE BROWN Charlie Brown was appointed Coordinator of Women's Volleyball Officiating in December 1994. For more than 20 years, he's excelled in the sport as an athlete, high school coach and referee. Until recently, Brown had coached the girl's team at Granada HS in Livermore, Calif., where his program was consistently among the best in the state. As a referee, he's worked nationally with all levels of competition, particularly the U.S. Sports Festival. Professionally, Brown is employed by Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, where he's involved with project management and design engineering. 86 2012 PAC-12 VOLLEYBALL / / PAC-12

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