By SCOTT NOVAK
Dowagiac Daily News

A lot of people have gotten to know Chris Haack for his high school soccer officiating and his work with the Blossomland Soccer League.

Still others know him as the sports director of the St. Joe Kickers Club in Arden or the fact that he is the president of the Southwest Michigan Soccer Referees’ Association.
Even more may have worked with him through the Southwest Michigan Middle School Soccer League, where he is vice president or have had him teach as a state-level instructor and assessor for the Michigan Referee Committee.

But you may not know that Haack, who is a teacher at the Dowagiac Middle School, also officiates at the collegiate level.

Haack, a 1982 graduate of St. Joseph High School and a 1986 graduate of Western Michigan University, where he played soccer for both institutions, has previously officiated in the Mid-American Conference and the Horizon League.

But this coming year, Haack steps up to the Big Ten Conference.

“I became know to the assignor by having been selected to represent Michigan in the United Soccer League’s U20 national championship tournament this past summer,” Haack said. “I also became a United States Soccer Federation Grade 5 official this past year, which puts me one step below national referee. I am sure this helped separate me from the rest of the state-level referees.”

Soccer is in his blood, so it should come to no one’s surprise that he is moving up the ladder when it comes to officiating.

Haack, 44, started playing soccer in 1979 and has been officiating at the high school level for over 20 years and collegiately for almost eight years.

Soccer also runs in the family.

His wife Victoria is a coach for the Dowagiac Middle School soccer program and his oldest son Aaron, 21, plays for the St. Joe Kickers and is attending Grand Valley State University.
Sons Christian (14) and Ray II (10) also play soccer.

Christian is following in his father’s footsteps by playing goalie for the Dowagiac Middle School team.

Ray plays for Athletic Jaier.

Youngest son Xavier is seven.