Obituary
Referee magazine and NASO founder Barry Mano dies at 82
Mano was a pioneer and fierce advocate for sports officials.
Barry Mano, the founder and publisher of Referee Magazine, and the founder of the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO), and a fierce advocate for officiating at all levels, died after a brief illness. He was 82.
Mano was a basketball official for 23 years, calling college games at the Division I level. His brother Mark was a NBA referee in the 1970s, and he made a controversial-but-correct call, but the NBA did not publicly back Mark up. The media and fans tore Mark down for making a correct call. That gave Barry inspiration to starting a publication “by officials, for officials.”
In January 1976 Mano started Referee magazine which devoted its pages to advocacy for officiating, news, opinion, and education. Over the years, the magazine also profiled hundreds of professional, college and amateur officials. The magazine covers all sports and devotes a section to rules and mechanics education for referees and umpires.
But, Mano wanted more for officials. So, in 1980 he founded the National Association of Sports Officials. This organization provides insurance, legal services, advocacy and education for its members. In a highly litigious society, hundreds of officials have benefited from the insurance and legal services from NASO, and all NASO members can take the field in comfort knowing they are covered.
Mano was preceded in death by his wife, Jean, in 2024. He is survived by a daughter, her husband, two grandchildren, and brother Mark, whose courageous call in a NBA game, got this whole thing started.
This is a monumental loss for the officiating world. NASO and Referee magazine — now celebrating its 50th anniversary of publication — will continue, but Barry Mano’s loss will be greatly felt.
Our condolences to all who knew him and loved him.
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impossiblybear15bdc797e1
April 1, 2026 at 6:43 pm
very sad day, with the passing of Barry mano. a , our prayers for his passing!
Anonymous
April 6, 2026 at 9:59 pm
Sadder than sad to learn of the passing of a titan of the sports magazine industry. Barry once told me I was the “best pure writer” his magazine had ever had. (I think he was trying to get me to hurry up and finish a story he’d assigned me.) He encouraged me to write, and I did: “Referee” published dozens of my stories and profiles from 1982 until the early 2000s while he ran the mag from its offices in Racine, Wisconsin.
We met in an odd sort of way: I stood him up! “Referee” was working on a feature story about me in 1985, and he came to Daytona Beach, Florida to interview me – but I’d already left to head over to St. Petersburg to work some Mets fantasy camp games by invitation of the camp director. Back then, I was MUCH more eager to umpire than I was to see myself profiled in a magazine, so I ditched our appointment and took a bus from Daytona in the middle of the night to make my game across the peninsula in St. Pete. I left a letter for Barry at the hotel where we had agreed to meet, and I thought he’d jettison the feature about me because of my rudeness, but instead, we became good friends, I got my mug in the mag, and a few years later when I submitted a remembrance of my friend and instructor, National League umpire Lee Weyer, after he died suddenly of a heart attack in 1988, Barry became my biggest booster, and I wound up writing many articles and profiles of other officials for “Referee” over the decades.
Losing a friend is painful, but Barry’s legacy and his devotion to the profession, and to all of us who practice it, has cemented his place in my personal pantheon of people I have adored, admired , and revered in my life. Farewell to a dear friend and mentor.
Anonymous
April 6, 2026 at 10:02 pm
Sadder than sad to learn of the passing of a titan of the sports magazine industry, Barry Mano, who once told me I was the “best pure writer” his magazine had ever had. (I think he was trying to get me to hurry up and finish a story he’d assigned me.) He encouraged me to write, and I did: “Referee” published dozens of my stories and profiles from 1982 until the early 2000s while he ran the mag from its offices in Racine, Wisconsin.
We met in an odd sort of way: I stood him up! “Referee” was working on a feature story about me in 1985, and he came to Daytona Beach, Florida to interview me – but I’d already left to head over to St. Petersburg to work some Mets fantasy camp games by invitation of the camp director. Back then, I was MUCH more eager to umpire than I was to see myself profiled in a magazine, so I ditched our appointment and took a bus from Daytona in the middle of the night to make my game across the peninsula in St. Pete. I left a letter for Barry at the hotel where we had agreed to meet, and I thought he’d jettison the feature about me because of my rudeness, but instead, we became good friends, I got my mug in the mag, and a few years later when I submitted a remembrance of my adored friend and instructor, National League umpire Lee Weyer, after he died suddenly of a heart attack in 1988, Barry became my biggest booster, and I wound up writing many articles and profiles of other officials for “Referee” over the decades.
Losing a friend is painful, but Barry’s legacy and his devotion to the profession, and to all of us who practice it, has cemented his place in my personal pantheon of people I have adored and admired in my life.