Aug. 8, 2002
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - The West Coast Conference announced the appointment of Tom Hiler as it's new Coordinator of Baseball Officials. Hiler replaces Bob Milano who served as the conferencešs coordinator for the past year.
"We are very happy to have Tom on board," said Assistant Commissioner Gloria Navarez. "He brings a wealth of experience in teaching and evaluating umpires which we feel will only help improve our program."
Hiler's main responsibilities as the new Coordinator of Baseball Officials will be to schedule umpires and crew chiefs for all home games hosted by a WCC school, evaluating and hiring current and future WCC umpires as well as maintaining a regular umpiring schedule himself.
A Salem, Oregon native, Hiler has a history with the West Coast Conference as he has been a member of the WCC baseball umpire staff for 12 years and also served as the crew chief for the 2002 inaugural WCC Baseball Championships. Hiler brings an extensive officiating background to the position as he was also formerly on the umpiring staff of the Pac-10, Mountain West Conference, the Western Athletic Conference and the Western Baseball League. From 1992-1997, Hiler umpired professionally in six different minor leagues across the nation(Northwest League, South Atlantic League, California League, Carolina League, Eastern League and the Texas League).
Hiler has also been instrumental with the development of other officials at every level. He has been the Chief Instructor for the Oregon Baseball Umpires Camp since 1992 helping to promote high school and collegiate umpiring and mechanics. In the past, Hiler has also been an instructor at the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring which prepares umpires for the entry level of professional baseball.