As a kid, basketball was Howard Hum’s sport, but one day when he was in Grade 10 a volleyball coach at Alpha secondary in North Burnaby asked him to referee even though he “knew absolutely nothing about the sport.” Hum took on the challenge and got certified.

He’s been blowing a whistle ever since. For 36 years, Hum, who remains a Burnaby resident, has been a constant presence patrolling the volleyball net and sidelines as he officiates at high-level university and collegiate matches. In addition,

Hum has organized officials for many international competitions, served on the board of Volleyball BC (2012-2014) and has been an executive board member for Volleyball Canada since 2014. In those roles he worked toward increasing the professionalism, quality standards and compensation for volleyball officials.

Hum believes one of the keys to his success was accepting the fact he was never going to be 100 per cent right and once he put himself in the shoes of the coaches and players he was officiating and understood their emotions it made him a better official.