Gina Hicks, left, will make history tonight when she becomes the first female to lead an OVAC football officiating crew during the Parkersburg South vs. Wheeling Park football game at Wheeling Island Stadium. She is pictured with fellow crew member Bailey Frederick. (Photo Provided)

WHEELING — Gina Hicks is all about playing by the rules, whether it’s on a basketball court, a football field or in a courtroom.

The Buckeye Local graduate is in her third year of officiating high school football. She will make history tonight as the first female to lead a football officiating crew for an Ohio Valley Athletic Conference game. Hicks will wear the white cap signifying that status when Wheeling Park hosts Parkersburg South at Wheeling Island Stadium.

“This isn’t about me at all,” Hicks stressed. “This is about bringing notification to women in sports and getting girls involved in officiating, especially in a male-dominated sport like football.

“I think it is huge. I’m so happy to be in this position.”

Hicks is no stranger to making history. She was also part of the OVAC’s first all-female basketball officiating crew along with Maclaine Murad and Bailey Frederick. Frederick is a member of Hicks’ football crew Friday, along with Dennis Stoddard, Shane Henderson, Dave Kurcina and Nate Harper.

Only one other female — Kathy Moro of the Weirton Board — is an OVAC referee.

“I was extremely surprised when (OVAC Football Commissioner) Sam Jones, who was my high school softball coach at Buckeye Local, called me and gave me the good news,” Hicks recalled. “I know he has a lot of confidence in me, and that’s why he was willing to put me in this position.”

Jones said he has all the confidence in the world that Hicks will be able to handle the assignment.

“She is a very good, young, quality official,” he said. “There have been a few quality officials, including myself, that wore a white cap in their third year. She’s more than ready. She really studies the rules. I think she will do a great job.”

Hicks said officiating/refereeing kind of goes hand-in-hand with her full-time position with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

“I work in Brooke, Hancock and Ohio counties supervising probationary individuals. I’ve been doing that since I graduated from Wheeling Jesuit University 15 years ago,” she added. “I always say, ‘All I do in every part of my life is to enforce rules, whether it’s on the basketball court, the football field or in the judicial court.’ I see the game, see the action and situations and adjudicate the rules.”

Hicks actually started coaching but found out the demands were too much along with her full-time job.

“I started coaching, but between my job and trying to get to practice and games, it was just too much. I didn’t want to lose any of my sports background, so becoming an official wasn’t on my radar until I said. ‘I’ve got to get back in the game,'” she admitted. “That was the best way for me to get back on the field or court.”

She actually got her start in officiating at the urging of her brother, St. Clairsville High assistant football coach Steve Hicks.

“He thought (me) getting into football (officiating) would be a lot of fun,” she explained. “To me, there’s nothing better than a football Friday night.”

Hicks hinted she may be a tad nervous prior to kickoff Friday, but she’ll be ready for the challenge.

“If it wasn’t for my crew, I wouldn’t have the confidence to do this,” she said. “I want to really thank Sam Jones and Ricky Moore for giving me this opportunity. I just hope I don’t let anybody down.”