It’s been a tough few weeks within the refereeing group, Thursday we said our goodbyes to one of our long serving members Merv Hindmarsh who passed away suddenly. Merv was a respected referee who had time for everyone and was a big part of the Frankston Refereeing family, he will be greatly missed.
Coming back to basketball in the new year we haven’t wasted any time in getting things going again. We have just completed the theory component of the latest beginner referees school with another 16 participants currently out on court. Their training is continuing on some of our mid-week competitions and we should start to see them getting graded and out on a Saturday soon.
February has also seen the completion of the first B grade referee course for the year. We have seen 25 referees attend where more advanced referee coaching and training is conducted. These referees will need to complete their rules exam and over the coming months their on court performance will be monitored by our referee coaches to ensure that the theory translates into on court performance before they receive their upgrade.
Two of our Frankston referees, Gavin Christie and Bec Janky were given the opportunity to be part of the 3×3 Hustle which was held at Frankston the past weekend. For both of our referees it was the first time they have been involved with this format of the game and gaining exposure to the higher standard competition. During the day our referees were partnered with some of the 3×3 Hustle league referees who helped them with the new rules specific to 3×3 basketball. They both were mentored on court by league referees during the day.
Western Port Basketball recently hosted the Two Bays cup which saw them take on Mornington Youth League and Senior teams battle it out in pre-season competition. The day was also used to raise funds for Bushfire Relief to support those communities devastated by the recent bushfires. Callum Woods, Ben Moscrop and myself volunteered our time on the day forgoing game payments to assist in the fundraising efforts. For Ben and Callum this was their first exposure to elite senior competitions and the valuable experience in participating in this event has given them a better understanding of the requirements of representative basketball.
Over the next few weeks we have more opportunities coming up for some of our senior referees with the Frankston Blues NBL1 and Big V Youth League teams hosting practice matches. We are working with the front office and domestic clubs on guidelines to officiating some of our youngest competitors in the Under 8’s competitions. We know that player skills and referees interpretations vary quite a bit in this age group so we hope that we can work towards a model that will best support participation and enjoyment of all participants.
We will start to see our new trainees hit the court with an increased focus on their development which will see them continuing to receive both on and off court coaching.
Chris Morrey – Referee Advisor