Officials

Brian Gessner

Commissioner of Officials

Gessner was hired as the AIA State Commissioner of Officials in January 2018. A 30-year officiating veteran, Gessner was named the 2009 AIA Boys Basketball Official of the Year, and has also received the 2010 National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) Good Call Award and was a 2016 recipient of the Fritz Goreham Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the basketball officiating community. He has officiated seven AIA state championship basketball games, including the 2017 6A boys contest. In addition to basketball, Gessner has officiated volleyball and baseball over the years, and has served as a postseason tournament director in six sports.

Job Responsibilities:

  • Provide leadership and vision related to the overall operation of the Officials Department
  • Recruit, screen, train, supervise, and evaluate officials
  • Supervise officiating department staff
  • Develop leaders and leadership committee's for each sport to assist in administrating the officiating programs
  • Oversee regular season assignments
  • Assign officials to the State Tournaments
  • Interpret sports rules
  • Investigate and track athletic protests and participant ejections

Contact Information:
P: 602-385-3816
E: bgessner@aiaonline.org