Business:
Bob Bahne grew up in San Diego, California during the era of hot rod cars and surf music. Bob, a graduate of Uni High School, and his brother Bill, a jack-of-all-trades, have been an instrumental part of the three most significant side-stance sports that have developed over the last 50 years (surfing, snowboarding and skateboarding). They started shaping surfboards in the ’50s, before foam and fiberglass entered the equation, and helped Bahne Surfboards grow into a prominent brand. In 1964, they created the removable fin system that is still standard today. In the early ’70s, they teamed up with his friend Mike Doyle to create an early version of -the snowboard called the “monoski.” Around the same time, Bill drove past a skater at a local shopping center and experienced a sudden epiphany about what to do with the thousands of feet of pultruded fiberglass that -weren’t suitable for fins. That idea led Bill and Bob to launch Bahne Skateboards. Between Bill’s engineering genius and Bob’s financial acumen, they became the Ford family of skateboarding, manufacturing more than a million skateboards in their Encinitas factory in roughly four years. The Bahne brothers were inducted into the skateboard Hall of Fame in 2018.
Officiating Bio:
-Started in the SDCFOA in the early 1970’s, over 47 years.
-Crew Chief in the late 70’s to 1990.
-SDCFOA President in 1986
-Known finals. Referee in 1986 and Line Judge in 1990 for Division 3A games.
-Started College in the late 70’s to present.
-Through 1999, Bob officiated at the high school, community college, Division I AA and Division III levels. Those years included officiating many playoffs, CIF championships and JC bowl games.
-Bob was promoted to D1 in 2000. (Dave Garza took over his HS Crew as the new Crew Chief)
-The 2000 season offered Bob the opportunity to officiate at the Division I level for the Mountain West Conference. His positions included line judge and head linesman.
-In 2010, Bob transitioned to the replay booth for the SFO West.
-During his Division 1 career, Bob officiated at the Cotton, Alamo, Hawaii and Compass Bowls.
-In 2013 inducted into the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.
-In 2013 inducted into the San Diego County Sports Official Hall of Fame.
-Received the George A. Schutte Award in 2011. -
-Worked the Orange Bowl in 2021.
-This year was the replay official for the Mountain West Conference Championship Game between Fresno St. at Boise St.
-And was set to work the Citrus Bowl as Replay Communicator on January 2, 2023 between LSU and Purdue.
Skateboarding Hall of Fame and Museum 2018
Bill and Bob Bahne grew up in San Diego, California during the era of hot rod cars and surf music. Bill, a jack-of-all-trades, has been an instrumental part of the three most significant side-stance sports that have developed over the last 50 years. He started shaping surfboards in the ’50s, before foam and fiberglass entered the equation, and helped Bahne Surfboards grow into a prominent brand. In 1964, he created the removable fin system that is still standard today. In the early ’70s, he teamed up with his friend Mike Doyle to create an early version of the snowboard called the “monoski.” Around the same time, Bill drove past a skater at a local shopping center and experienced a sudden epiphany about what to do with the thousands of feet of pultruded fiberglass that weren’t suitable for fins. That idea led Bill and his brother Bob to launch Bahne Skateboards.
Between Bill’s engineering genius and Bob’s financial acumen, they did a lot to reanimate skateboarding in the 1970s. Synergized by their almost cosmic meeting with Frank Nasworthy of Cadillac Wheels, they became the Ford family of skateboarding, manufacturing more than a million skateboards in their Encinitas factory in roughly four years. The Bahne brothers supported skateboarding’s growth by producing events, including the Del Mar Nationals that launched numerous skateboarding legends. They also helped Skateboarder magazine with major momentum on its re-launch, including a free copy of the mag with every board they sold for months. It’s perhaps one of the earliest stories of sales success combined with the love of skateboarding, and it’s the story of Bahne Skateboards.
The SDCFOA would like to thank the Big 12 Officials for honoring Bob. Bob was assigned to work the game but passed away unexpectedly. The officials wore the "BB" patch on the back of their hat while working the 2023 Citrus Bowl.
