Trellis Wright

Charles Trellis Wright was born on July 16, 1917, in Boaz to Hollis and Fanny Dendy Wright.  The Wright family owned and lived on a farm in Boaz.  Trellis had a brother Holbert, who became a coach, and a sister Myrtle Lou Geiger, who was the mother of 2016 Hall of Fame inductee Jimmy Geiger and the mother-in-law of 2002 inductee Travis Hunt.

Trellis began his outstanding athletic career at Snead Seminary, playing both football and basketball under Coach Bill Battle, Jr., a 2020 Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame inductee.  Trellis had a productive junior year as a member of the Snead basketball team.  When Snead re-chartered itself in 1935 to Snead Junior College, the secondary school began to be phased out.  Coach Battle urged Trellis to transfer to the brand-new Boaz High School to complete his senior year.  He participated on the first BHS basketball team under Coach T.G. Thom for the 1935-36 season.  Trellis, also known as “Hoss,” had an outstanding senior season.  Unfortunately, Boaz High didn’t field a football team until the fall of that year, so Trellis played just the one sport his senior year.  He graduated as the first valedictorian of the new Boaz High School.

After graduating, Trellis received a scholarship to play both football and basketball at South Georgia Teacher’s College, now called Georgia Southern University.  Coach B.L. “Crook” Smith was both the basketball and football coach  However, lack of money forced Trellis to leave school.  As a result, his career as a sports official began.  Trellis also participated in boxing.  One article from the Boaz News Leader in 1937 stated “One of the most interesting bouts of the evening was the fight between Trellis Wright and Knock-out Kelly.  These boys seemed to thrive on punishment.  They put aside all caution and went to war.”

Trellis began officiating junior high basketball games for a dollar a night, a fair amount for a young man who really needed the money.  It wasn’t long before he was making $2.00 a night, sometimes walking several miles to get to the games.  He progressed up the ranks to calling high school games and affiliated with the Gadsden Officials Association.  After seeing a need for a new association on Sand Mountain, he founded the North Alabama Officials Association in the late 1950’s.  He served as the Executive Secretary and assigner for the association until his retirement in 1976.

Throughout his officiating career, Trellis was well-respected.  He officiated numerous AHSAA state championship games and all-star contests.  He once called ten games in one day at the AHSAA District 8 Tournament.  Along with his work in the sport of basketball, he also officiated high school football across the state of Alabama. 

Trellis also called games at the collegiate level.  He officiated in the Alabama Junior College Conference and the Alabama Collegiate Conference.  Once in a game at Jacksonville State vs. the University of Chattanooga, Trellis was officiating in a gym with a leaky roof.  He urged them to postpone the game, remarking that someone was going to get hurt.  They went ahead and decided to play.  Sure enough, Trellis was the one who slipped on a wet spot and fractured his leg!

When Trellis retired from officiating in 1976, he had officiated more games than any other person in the history of the AHSAA.  His forty-year career was so legendary that the AHSAA threw a reception for him in Tuscaloosa in recognition of his service to high school athletics.  His dedication and love for sports, his fostering of sportsmanship and fair play, and his adherence to the rules of the game were unmatched in the state of Alabama.

Trellis worked at Republic Steel in Gadsden for all the years that he officiated.  He would often call games, then work an 11:00-7:00 shift at the plant.  Additionally, he and his wife Pat owned and operated the Victory Café in downtown Boaz for many years.  The Wrights were very active in Julia Street Methodist Church in Boaz where Trellis taught Sunday school.  He also served as a speaker for Gideons International.  After retirement, Trellis moved to Robertsdale to be near his daughter Linda and his grandchildren. Sadly, he passed away on May 2, 2000.