Game officials Bill Brinkman and Nick Wininger will be recognized with special awards in 2025 by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association.
Brinkman and Wininger will be honored as respective winners of the Roy Gardner and Mildred Ball awards as outstanding officials throughout long careers on the hardwood. The two officials are being cited for their work impacting the game floor, Brinkman from 1990 to the present and Wininger from 2000 to the present.
Brinkman is in his 35th season as an official, including five times in the IHSAA boys' basketball State Finals while a member of the Mid Hoosier Officials Association. He has served the MHOA as president, vice president, certification clinician and mentor.
A 1987 graduate of Lawrenceburg High School, Brinkman competed in basketball, football, golf and track & field. He later competed in football and track at Franklin College and has been an educator for 34 years. He resides now in a suburb of Cincinnati.
Wininger, a Montgomery resident, is in his 25th season as an official. He has worked the boys' basketball State Finals three times and the girls' basketball State Finals five times. He has been a member of the Southwestern Indiana Officials Association for 25 years. He served his association as basketball chairman for two years and has been a basketball clinician on several occasions. He recently was recognized by the IHSAA with its 2025 Interscholastic Athletic Officials Award for girls' basketball.
A 1999 graduate of Shoals High School, Wininger played basketball and and was an all-Blue Chip Conference selection in baseball. He attended Indiana University and now is in his 20th year as a history teacher at North Daviess Junior-Senior High School. He also is the North Daviess girls' golf coach.
The Gardner Award is named after the late Roy Gardner, a Lawrenceburg native, Ball State graduate and former Batesville High School math teacher who worked three boys' basketball State Finals and officiated in the Big Ten from 1959-69. He passed away in 1977, and the IBCA has presented an award in his name since 1978. Gardner was inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Ripley County Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
The Ball Award is named after Mildred Morgan Ball, a graduate of Gary Roosevelt High School and Indiana University who served as an IHSAA assistant commissioner from 1977-97. During her time at the IHSAA, Ball was responsible for licensing and training of contest officials and also worked with the National Federation of High School Associations rules committee. The IBCA has presented an award in her name since 1997. Ball was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998, and she was the 2022 recipient of the Richard G. Lugar Award for Distinguished Service.
Brinkman and Wininger each will receive his award during the IBCA's annual clinic on April 24-25 at Mt. Vernon High School in Fortville. For more information about the IBCA, go to in.nhsbca.org.
Brinkman and Wininger will be honored as respective winners of the Roy Gardner and Mildred Ball awards as outstanding officials throughout long careers on the hardwood. The two officials are being cited for their work impacting the game floor, Brinkman from 1990 to the present and Wininger from 2000 to the present.
Brinkman is in his 35th season as an official, including five times in the IHSAA boys' basketball State Finals while a member of the Mid Hoosier Officials Association. He has served the MHOA as president, vice president, certification clinician and mentor.
A 1987 graduate of Lawrenceburg High School, Brinkman competed in basketball, football, golf and track & field. He later competed in football and track at Franklin College and has been an educator for 34 years. He resides now in a suburb of Cincinnati.
Wininger, a Montgomery resident, is in his 25th season as an official. He has worked the boys' basketball State Finals three times and the girls' basketball State Finals five times. He has been a member of the Southwestern Indiana Officials Association for 25 years. He served his association as basketball chairman for two years and has been a basketball clinician on several occasions. He recently was recognized by the IHSAA with its 2025 Interscholastic Athletic Officials Award for girls' basketball.
A 1999 graduate of Shoals High School, Wininger played basketball and and was an all-Blue Chip Conference selection in baseball. He attended Indiana University and now is in his 20th year as a history teacher at North Daviess Junior-Senior High School. He also is the North Daviess girls' golf coach.
The Gardner Award is named after the late Roy Gardner, a Lawrenceburg native, Ball State graduate and former Batesville High School math teacher who worked three boys' basketball State Finals and officiated in the Big Ten from 1959-69. He passed away in 1977, and the IBCA has presented an award in his name since 1978. Gardner was inducted into the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Ripley County Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
The Ball Award is named after Mildred Morgan Ball, a graduate of Gary Roosevelt High School and Indiana University who served as an IHSAA assistant commissioner from 1977-97. During her time at the IHSAA, Ball was responsible for licensing and training of contest officials and also worked with the National Federation of High School Associations rules committee. The IBCA has presented an award in her name since 1997. Ball was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998, and she was the 2022 recipient of the Richard G. Lugar Award for Distinguished Service.
Brinkman and Wininger each will receive his award during the IBCA's annual clinic on April 24-25 at Mt. Vernon High School in Fortville. For more information about the IBCA, go to in.nhsbca.org.
