Spike Decker
Spike’s love of lacrosse began in junior high playing at Watertown High for Hall of Fame Coach Matt Branski. He was team captain and 1st team All CNYCL. Spike continued playing lacrosse in college at RIT for Coach Bill Tierney. He was team captain, 1st team all-league, and All-American. Under Coach Tierney’s leadership, RIT had their first (3) All-Americans that year. This was the first class in the school’s history or Coach Tierney’s career to produce an All-American. Spike also coached briefly at Watertown High with his wingman, Mike Branski.
Spike’s officiating at the high school level began in 1990 and includes 34 years with the NYS Association, 27 years as Rules Interpreter and NYS Rep, mentoring under the names of Joe Escudero, Jake Curran, and Walt Munze. He has officiated many league, sectional, and state playoff games and multiple NYS championship games.
Spike’s officiating at the NCAA level includes 29 years in Divisions I, II, and III, many league, conference, and NCAA playoff games, and national Division I, II, and III Quarterfinals and Semifinals. He was invited to officiate in five Final Fours. He officiated NCAA D-II championships, National D-III championships, and D-I semifinals and he is currently the District Two Governor for the National Intercollegiate Lacrosse Officials Association (NILOA).
The FIL (now World Lacrosse) would be next, taking part in seven championships. These include Blue Division Referee, 2010 World Championship, Manchester, England; Deputy Referee in Chief, 2014 World Championship, Denver, Colorado; Assessor, 2016 European Championship, Budapest, Hungary and 2018 World Championship, Netanya, Israel; Referee Coach 2019 Asia Pacific Championship, Gyeongju, South Korea and 2022 U20 World Championship, Limerick, Ireland; and the 2023 World Championship, San Diego, California. He believes that it is our responsibility to give back to the sport by mentoring young officials globally.
Next up PLL! Spike has officiated for five years in the PLL, which include the 2020 championship (bubble) in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Spike has been a fixture at the Lake Placid Summit Tournament for 25 years and was recently inducted into the “Legends of Placid”. He also has presented at the USA Lacrosse Convention annually, fueling his passion for helping younger officials improve.
The opportunities this journey of lacrosse has provided to him and his family are immeasurable. He can’t imagine what his life would be today, without lacrosse.
Spike lives in Rodman NY with his wife Gwen and is the Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds for Jefferson County.
