ABOVE: From left: Spencer Chirpich, Lee Baarts, Jordan Voss, Zach Dahl and Chris Voss will take the field at U.S. Bank Stadium Saturday morning, as they ref a semi-final game between Springfield and Mahnomen/Waubun.

FAIRMONT – An officiating crew from the Fairmont area has been given the honor of refereeing a semifinal Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) football game at U.S. Bank Stadium this Saturday.

The crew, consisting of Jordan and Chris Voss, Lee Baarts, Spencer Chirpich and Zach Dahl, will officiate the semifinal Class A showdown between Springfield and Mahnomen/Waubun Saturday at 9 a.m.

Crew members have between three and seven years of experience in football, with all of them having several years of experience refereeing basketball. This squad, with Cory Hainy instead of Chirpich, reffed a quarterfinal game last year.

“I reached out to a regional coordinator, and that regional coordinator sent in an observation form for us,” Jordan Voss said. “They sent an observer down to see our crew’s mechanics and stuff like that. This year we were observed twice and got good feedback.”

It’s no easy feat to get this kind of opportunity. Jordan Voss said there is stiff competition for state tournament entries every year.

“MSHSL officiating head Jason Nickleby said there are about 550 crews that apply and only 30 crews get a state tournament game,” he said. “It’s rare to get a state tournament game, and especially rare in this area to get one.”

Regarding skills necessary to officiate at a high level, several members had pieces of the puzzle to offer. Zach Dahl said MSHSL preaches mechanics, with a deep knowledge of the rulebook and expectations. Chris Voss said they watch a lot of film together of other teams, other ref crews and themselves.

“It helps that we all love football,” Lee Baarts said. “We’re all competitive in nature. We want to do our best. We don’t want to be the one that no-calls or makes [the wrong] call. We want to make sure we’re in the right position. We push each other, joke around, ride together and have a great time. If something happens we saw the week before, we discuss that.”

Chris Voss said a strength that sets this group up for success is its ability to communicate.

“We listen to each other,” he said. “Nobody’s afraid to get feedback from the other. We’ll take it to heart and learn, and we take it seriously. We all work hard to get better every week. We’re all ex-athletes. We’ve all played at different levels, and we use that same mentality towards officiating.”

The group had set a goal at the beginning of the season to make it to U.S. Bank Stadium. Chris Voss acknowledged it was a lofty goal, as it takes many officiating groups a long time to get there. Now that the game is upon them, Jordan Voss said it’s a surreal feeling.

“My dad has had season tickets to the Vikings for 25 years,” he said. “Me and him would go to games, look down, and be like, ‘Oh my gosh, it would be such an awesome opportunity to be on that field.’ Now it’s coming true. I’m looking forward to being on the field, looking up at the seats we usually sit in, and having a different perspective.”

Having made it so far in such a short time, Jordan Voss said refereeing a state championship is the obvious end goal. But more than that, he wants to see this group stick together for as long as possible.

“A lot of crews disintegrate,” he said. “The crew before us happened to break apart, and that’s how we came together. My end goal is officiating together as long as we can because this group is pretty special. It’s incredible to be out there with them. No matter the game, just to officiate with this group, is special to us.”