For more than 37 years, the schools serviced by the Western Connecticut Football Officials Association have had the expertise of Bruce Brenia as one of the men in stripes. In fact, for many years, much of the training and mentoring done on the so-called "Waterbury Board" has been conducted under the direction of Bruce. A lawyer by profession, Bruce has brought his ability to decipher the conundrums of the law into the rulebook. He has been the board's interpreter since 1980, and has had to field many questions from coaches and other officials as to the proper disposition of a rule or casebook play. One of his most prized pupils is his son, Richard, who began officiating in 1994 and has worked many varsity games with his Dad over the years. The elder Brenia is proud of his son who has been working college games for several years now. Donning the white hat for more than30 years, Brenia has worked the bulk of his more than 20 state playoff and championship assignments as a referee, and has been one of the top crew chiefs on the WCFOA. For that organization he has served several terms as an executive board member besides his interpreter's role, and served on several committees. For the state board, Bruce has served as one of the three Western Board representatives since 1986 and was the group's vice-president for a term. He has been awarded the Edward Mariano Distinguished Service Award for his role with this high school chapter, and won the Vincent J. Reilly Award for service to officiating in the state. He was inducted into the Naugatuck Hall of Fame in 2006. Cool and steady on the field, as a mentor, and as a member of the governing body of officiating in Connecticut, Bruce Brenia has been an integral part of the game of football for almost 40 years.