Bayfield Wolverines and Durango High School football players did well in this year’s postseason awards voting, but one local gridiron great outdid them all.
After 21 years with the Durango Area Football Officials Association, Jim Duresky was inducted into the Colorado Football Officials Hall of Fame.
Duresky was one of six officials recognized at a Dec. 10 luncheon in Denver for his outstanding contributions to the sport of football in Colorado. The inductees are the best in the state’s college and high school ranks.
“Jim didn’t just meet the strict criteria they have for these nominees, what he did went beyond that,” said Rick O’Block, head director of the Durango Football Officials Association. “He’s always been committed to doing what’s right for the game and our profession.”
Duresky spent his career officiating games in Bayfield, Durango and Ignacio, and served as the area’s director for six years. He was selected to officiate nine playoff games in his career and earned the ultimate assignment for a high school official when he was chosen to be part of a state championship crew.
Duresky has barely been retired for the five years required for nomination, but it didn’t take long to get the recognition he deserves as his contributions to the game went well beyond throwing flags and spotting the ball.
“He did his work in a professional manner on and off the field,” O’Block said. “I think his greatest asset is his dedication to the profession. Even in his acceptance speech, it was all praise for his peers and how to grow in the future. I have tried to model some of the way I handle the presidency the way Jim did, and recruiting was always at the top of the agenda.”
Many football games in the fall had to be rescheduled because of a referee shortage, and recruiting new talent is also O’Block’s main focus.
“We have to do what Jim’s been saying all along in order to keep growing,” O’Block said. “He is definitely deserving of the honor.”
