The NCAA has named Mary Struckhoff as national coordinator of women's basketball officiating. She will begin her new role in January.

Struckhoff, an assistant director with the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) since 1999, replaces Marcy Weston, who is retiring from the coordinator position after having served in that role since 1984. Weston is a senior associate director of athletics at Central Michigan University.

Struckhoff also spent three years as an assistant executive at the Illinois High School Association (ISHA). In her assistant director role at the NFHS, Struckhoff serves as editor and national rules interpreter for basketball and softball. She also coordinates the NFHS Officials Education Program.

"Mary is a knowledgeable and committed educator who has balanced experience in education, officiating and administration," said Sue Donohoe, NCAA vice president for Division I women's basketball. "She is sure to bring women's basketball officiating to a new level."

Struckhoff will coordinate the NCAA's women's basketball officiating program. The program helps promote better communication among officials, conference coordinators of officials, coaches and the NCAA, and helps provide consistency in the interpretations of NCAA women's basketball rules and officiating mechanics. Additionally, Struckhoff will help the Division I Women's Basketball Committee identify, select and evaluate officials for the Division I championship.

Struckhoff's diverse experiences should be an asset. She has officiated NCAA women's basketball in seven Division I conferences and has worked several postseason tournaments, including conference championship finals, the Division I Women's Basketball Championship and the Women's National Invitation Tournament.

She also has coached at the high school level and played collegiately at Benedictine College (Kansas).

"I have a variety of backgrounds in the sport," Struckhoff said, "but predominantly I'm an administrator. I was an administrator at the secondary level when I started officiating, and I still have that perspective in terms of a more global point of view. That diversity of background is one of the many assets that Marcy brought to the table, too. I believe it is essential in terms of hearing coaches, administrators and officials and drawing upon all the experiences I've had with those constituent groups to help keep the officiating program moving in the right direction."

Among Struckhoff's priorities is to continue collaborating with coaches groups, particularly the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, to improve officiating.

Struckhoff said she'll continue the officiating program's reliance on technology as well. The NCAA launched an enhanced Web site in November that features video plays and an online testing component for officials.

"When we say enhance or improve the program, we're talking about improving our resources, too," Struckhoff said. "It's an opportunity to improve communication and send a consistent message."

Struckhoff already serves on several committees and boards, including the Officiating Development Alliance, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame board of directors and the Council of the Amateur Softball Association.

Before joining the IHSA staff, she was involved in teaching, coaching and athletics administration at high schools in St. Louis and Chicago for 10 years. Her teaching background includes physical education, health, mathematics and computer science courses. Struckhoff also has coached softball, volleyball and tennis.

"I want to build on what Marcy has established over the years. She's been such an icon in the women's game for these 25 years that we're celebrating, and I want to be able to continue that legacy," Struckhoff said. "The student-athletes, coaches, administrators and officials involved in the women's game are passionate groups. Our goal is to work together to make the women's game the best it can possibly be."

Struckhoff earned a bachelor's degree in 1982 from Benedictine in physical education and a master's degree in athletics administration in 1991 from Western Illinois University. While an undergraduate, she played on the tennis and softball teams.

Struckhoff, who began officiating "for fun" years ago and will continue to referee games until the end of the year, said it will be difficult to hang up the whistle.

"I have mixed emotions because I really love officiating," she said. "It's one of those things that gets in your blood. There's only a select group that gets to be on the floor -- the players, the coaches and the officials. Not being among them is going to be hard.

"But being national coordinator is an opportunity to effect change on a grander scale."