How the child born on March 20 made Hugh Brady Conrad an “international” name

Hugh Brady Conrad, Sr.

Few people know what the acronym IAABO stands for today — or has for the past 105 years. Its website today explains its mission,

IAABO stands for the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials, Inc. It is a professional organization that provides training, certification, and support for basketball referees at all levels, from youth leagues to high school and beyond.

Website IAABO, 2026

And on that website is the name of Hugh B. Conrad, who served as president of that international organization from 1964 until 1965. He had been the vice-president for the previous two years, and the tenure for all of those positions is just one year.

So, how did that little boy born on March 20 — 120 years ago — earn that distinguished position?

That was not something that he dreamed of as a young man, but events in life can often shape the future in ways in which we could never envision.

IAABO became an international stepping stone

According to his biography on the website of the Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame, Hugh B. Conrad officiated his first basketball game when he was just 15 years of age. He then played for the Lilly High School first basketball team in high school, an aggregation that compiled a record of 24-3 in his senior season, 1924.

His dream for post-high school though was to earn a college degree, and since his father had passed away when he was just 15, he had asked some local people with political connections to secure a nomination to the U.S. Naval Academy.

However, on April 5, 1924, when the team was to play its last game, Lilly was invaded by some terrorists known as the Ku Klux Klan. His brother Phil, then the person who was bringing home the money to the family with his job on the Pennsylvania Railroad, was killed by the KKK that night.

That tragedy changed the trajectory of his life because he became the provider for the family, eventually taking a job with the U.S. Postal Service and working for 40 years in that field.

However, he developed during that time what he referred to as his “avocation”: Officiating. He had estimated that he refereed more than 3,000 basketball and football games during that time, and in it, he secured an international reputation.

Here is that explanation, from the CC hall of fame website,

Conrad was one of the most sought-after officials in scholastic and Eastern collegiate basketball and football. He joined the National Association of Approved Basketball Officials in 1924 after his graduation from Lilly High School.

He officiated his first high school game in 1926. He worked 110 games in 1932 and on average worked 80 to 85 games a season. After his retirement he was in demand as a lecturer and instructor of officiating.

Conrad became a member of the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials (IAABO), eventually being elevated to president of the prestigious organization in 1964. He was prominent in forming a local IAABO chapter in Cambria County and worked with young officials to improve themselves.

Conrad conducted approximately 300 clinics throughout the United States and the world. His clinics were held in Alaska, Pakistan, Malaysia, North Borneo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Nova Scotia, Hawaii, the Philippines, Korea, Japan and Vietnam, among other venues.

Cambria County Sports Hall of Fame website

The travels

In Pakistan, 1968

My father decided to end his career with the postal service at the end of 1965, which recorded 40 years but included two years in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was 38 when he enlisted.

After the war, he started his ascendancy into the college ranks of officiating after focusing primarily on high school games prior to that. He continued to work high school games until 1965, when he retired from officiating in the PIAA and in college.

That game him time to focus on teaching and training officials from throughout the U.S. and the world. He was hired on two occasions by the U.S. Defense and State departments to travel with a college all-star team through the Middle East and Far East. The countries listed above were the primary ones on those travels. Once he reached the age of 70, he could not longer travel on those since he officiated those all-star games alone.

Conducting a clinic in Alaska for the U.S. Army

IAABO history

His work with IAABO was vital to his desire to improve the quality of officiating in basketball at all levels. The organization actually started in the early 1900s in Philadelphia,

The Philadelphia Board of Approved Basketball Officials organized in November of 1912 by Phillip G. Lewis of Philadelphia who held the presidency of this board (the first organization of its kind in the world) continuously for 30 years of the board’s 82 years of existence.

Phil Lewis had as his ultimate objectives the standardization of the playing rules and officiating through interpretive meetings and demonstration games.

The rapid development of similar local boards resulted in the first annual meeting of the present International Association of Approved Basketball Officials, which was conducted in the Hotel Astor, New York City, May 6, 1921.

IAABO website

I traveled to New York on a few occasions during my high school years when he attended the IAABO meetings. They met twice a year, in April and the fall. I remember staying at the former Piccadilly Hotel in the city where they held their meetings. I was there in 1964 when he was named president, though I could not attend the actually elevation to the top spot since I was not a member.

So, that is how the name of Hugh Brady Conrad became international. My dad was a smooth operator on those levels, demonstrating what today would be called superb communication skills. He had tremendous leadership potential that he used in the community and in our county serving on many boards.