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To the officials in today’s feature story and all referees and umpires involved in youth sports

Don Nolander, Dennis Flom, Bob Rinaldi, Al Schallock and Jeff Rayman officiated their final game as a crew together Wednesday night in Alden.

All together, this crew has a combined 195 years of high school football officiating experience. Officiating can be a tough job, with the long time commitments, late nights and grief from unruly fans, but these guys have stuck it out.

We want to thank them, as well as officials from all sports and skill levels, for all of the time and dedication they have spent towards being a positive influence on the youth in the community.

We encourage anyone with an interesting in sports or looking to become involved in the community to consider becoming a sports official. It’s a great way to stay connected and witness some special moments.

To all the area football and volleyball teams that will start their respective section tournaments next week

We want to give a shoutout and a big cheer of good luck to all of our area teams that will soon be starting their postseason runs.

The Albert Lea, United South Central, NRHEG, Alden-Conger and Glenville-Emmons football and volleyball programs found out who their first-round matchups would be Thursday morning. Look to the sports page for a full breakdown of where and when all these teams will be playing.

Cross country and girls’ swim and dive also begin their postseasons soon.

The path to the state tournament is laid out in front of all of these teams. However, regardless of if any of the teams or athletes qualify for their state tournaments, all of the hard work and commitment on and off the playing field/court has shown, and we at the Tribune are proud to cheer on our Tigers.