Livonia resident, retired Taylor educator earns prestigious MHSAA award

Debby Karabees-Betts has dedicated more than 50 years to serving high school and middle school students, often in several roles simultaneously to provide opportunities to learn and compete both academically and athletically.

To celebrate especially her 30-plus years as a Michigan High School Athletic Association-registered game official and her immense impact on that community, Karabees-Betts was honored with the 35th Vern L. Norris Leadership in Officiating Award during the MHSAA’s Officials Awards & Alumni Banquet on April 26 in East Lansing.

The Norris Award is presented annually to a veteran official who has been active in a local officials association, has mentored other officials, and has been involved in officials’ education.

It is named for Vern L. Norris, who served as executive director of the MHSAA from 1978-86 and was well-respected by officials on the state and national levels.

Karabees-Betts was honored at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Center along with high school game officials with 20, 30, 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60 years of service.

She has positively impacted thousands of lives

She began her career in education in 1973 and spent the next 40 years as a teacher and later guidance counselor. Her contributions to school sports also began in 1973 with her first of what would become several coaching tenures.

She became an MHSAA-registered official first during the late 1970s, then returned to officiating in 1990-91 – first in swimming and track & field, later adding volleyball and cross country – and has officiated a combined five MHSAA Finals – two each in volleyball and boys swimming & diving, and one in girls swimming & diving.

But that covers only one area of her influence on statewide officiating.

Also a collegiate volleyball line judge in the Big Ten Conference over the last 16 years, Karabees-Betts co-wrote the “Best Practices for Line Judges” protocol adhered to at MHSAA Finals and has been an MHSAA officials trainer in the sport since 2010.

She has conducted more than 100 officiating and line judging clinics over the last two decades, mentored several school-aged officials as part of the MHSAA Legacy Program and spoken to numerous high school classes on the benefits of becoming an official.

‘Sportsmanship, safety and respect’

“The (essence of) officiating is that you bring sportsmanship, safety and respect and love for the games,” said Karabees-Betts, who first met Vern Norris while officiating an MHSAA Finals at Eastern Michigan University. “I have so many former players’ children that I’m officiating now. … You want that knowledge to make sure they have the most fair playing field that you could possibly give them.

“It’s kind of a legacy of love for the sport, the participation in the sport, the growth and knowledge of the sport and safety of the sport – because throughout 50 years, the safety factor has increased in almost every sport.”

Karabees-Betts, who lives in Livonia but did the majority of her teaching and counseling at Taylor public schools, first stepped into educational athletics as a professional in 1973 when, as a first-year teacher, she also took on the head coaching positions at Taylor Truman for girls swimming, volleyball and track & field during the early years of those programs.

She made the former Inkster Cherry Hill High School a force in boys swimming & diving, coaching that program to 10 straight Tri-River League titles and a Lower Peninsula Class B-C-D runner-up finish in 1977 before that school closed in 1985. She was named Coach of the Year in that league multiple times for that sport and also girls track & field.

Former Taylor Center coach

She also earned multiple Western Wayne Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors during a decade-long run at Taylor Center from 1986-96, where she led the boys cross country, swimming & diving and track & field programs.

Karabees-Betts would later coach the Dearborn Divine Child volleyball team to a Catholic High School League title and take the Riverview Gabriel Richard girls basketball team on a long Class C Tournament run.

She also coached at Taylor Kennedy and Garden City high schools and middle school swimming and cross country in the Taylor district.

Karabees-Betts moved on to coaching volleyball at Schoolcraft College, serving as an assistant coach for a decade through 2010 and helping that program reach the National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament. She continued officiating MHSAA events during that time and became a collegiate volleyball official in 1996.

She has served as an officials observer at the MHSAA Volleyball Semifinals and Finals the last four seasons and also several more as the officials crew chief for that high-profile event.

Contributions in more than just sports

She served as board secretary and awards chairperson for the Michigan Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association from 1979-84 and has served as board secretary/treasurer for the Capital Area Association of Volleyball Officials since 2013.

“Debby Karabees-Betts has brought her expertise and dedication as an educator into the athletic classroom, especially as one of our state’s most respected and admired teaching officials and mentors in volleyball,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said.

“Her work across several sports has had a far-reaching impact stretching decades and continuing to this day, and her approach not only to officiating, but to teaching and mentoring is admired across her several sports communities.”

Karabees-Betts graduated from Taylor Center High School in 1969. She earned her bachelor’s and education specialist degrees from Michigan State University in 1973, the former in physical education, health and recreation and the latter in exercise physiology and science.

She later earned master’s degrees in educational guidance and counseling, and athletic administration, from Eastern Michigan University, and then her doctorate in education and guidance and counseling from EMU in 1990.

The widely-respected mentor has contributed to her community in several more ways, including as a member of the Taylor Jaycees organization and president of its women’s club where she participated in some of the many charity efforts she’s been part of locally.

Community-minded individual

She served on the Taylor Schools and Community Council and volunteered as part of the district’s crisis team, organized a traveling theatre troupe that performed at local elementary schools and taught first-aid classes at the local community center. She also served as director for the Dearborn Heights summer recreation department’s track & field program.

Karabees-Betts has been honored several times for her service, including with 12 Golden Apple Awards from the Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency. She received the Michigan Exceptional Educator of the Year Award from EMU in 2003 and the Guidance Counselor of the Year Award from the Wayne County Intermediate School District in 2010.

She is married to husband Dennis, who also is an MHSAA-registered swimming & diving official, and worked the Lower Peninsula Finals to conclude both the girls and boys seasons this school year. They have two daughters, Desiree McMahon and Lori Hall, and a son Greg Betts.