We no longer have NOCSA but SASCOC and they do not fit anywhere in this, nor does FIBA.

Basically, basketball’s programme and perfomance lies in the hands of ballers, SASCOC and FIBA only intervene if there is a dispute.

As I have argued above and always, Intergrated Development is the answer.

The situation that is being faced by the officials is the same situation faced by the national team.

1. The top refs in SA, not that they are miles ahead of the worst, are all products of the past system which was ignored. The current crop of players are products of the past systems. The past systems I mean, the regular competitions, clinics, provincial and national tournaments. All these participants are benefited from the programmes that were avail;able then. Where do the young up and coming players oor refs get to practice their skills, national tournaments? Remember national tournament can only accomodate so many refs and p[layers.

2. We need to look at the grading system used by other codes like netball. I forunate enough to work with netball on a regular basis and the grading system for their umpires is very effective. You must firstly umpire at school level then district only then can you be considered for provincial grading.

We have a pool of about 6 refs in Gauteng who do whatever they want because they know that they are “irreplaceble” and the same refs are always the once who are called for tournaments year in and year out. Clearly BSA must realise that they need to invest in new, hungrier refs who want to learn the art of officiating. Without officials basketball is dead and the sooner we realise the better. Improving refs will automatically improve our level of playin, lord knows we need to improve that department.

We can have all the sponsorships of 1994 in our account but if we don take care of the small details we might as well run basketball from a spaza shop.

However, the table officials were abismal. Often getting the scoring wrong, allocating incorrect fouls and the likes. Even the basics of knowing when the time needs to run was an issue.

I agree with Naftal’s comment about the mentoring etc. I remember sitting with Charles and discussing the standard of refereeing at one tournament, while he was evaluating and grading his collegues. After a few games there was a feedback session and points to work on.

As a FIBA referee, I have been fortunate to experience different basketball cultures and i must say that in SA we had a good thing going.

I feel that from the times of Mello Mofolo, Ian Wood and Charles Saunders, the quality of officiating has in general degraded.
Back in those days structures were in place and mentoring and monitoring systems were in place so that an up and coming referee has all he needs to succeed (I am a product of that).

Lately, not only do we have a lack of referees in terms of numbers but also when it comes to quality but the latter can be as a direct result from the lack of proper structures from the top (BSA, GBA, Districts, Local leagues).

Lastly, I feel that its the responsibility of the referee himself to invest in himself so that he become a better referee. Personal investment in time, reading and research, equipment and most importantly i feel that a junior ref needs to get a senior referee who can mentor and guide him/her along the way.

We have great talent in this country though some of those talented refs often get a little too arrogant and ahead of themselves and that can shadow one progress and career as a referee.

GBL and ProSport are doing all they can to improve the level of officials but like Joe said, this will lead us nowhere if BSA does not have its house in order.

Out.

I am also grateful to comment on the topic not only as an administrator now but also as somebody who has been a referee for a long time.The points raised by Craig Daniels and Craig Gilchrist are interesting and require everyone to look at.

1. I agree with them to say,there is no accountability, no evaluation of the referees so that they can improve. There is no control, no structure, no grading system. Having said that,i would also support the statement that referees are now doing their own thing and there is no “structure” that will give direction in the officiating of our games,development of refering in this country.

2. There is a point reaised where it sugest to say,”Is it about what the referee get paid at the end of the game?”Craig Gilchist makes an interesting comment where suggest that there is a need for continuous monitoring and funding to train the referees. He also goes on to say we perhaps need to get overseas experience to come in and assess the situation and improve the level which is echoed by Joe above to say we need to look in Europe and Australia and not US.

The truth be told is that refering in this country requires serious attention.We have a huge crisis.

When I started refering,there was USSASA.The school program at that time was a good platform for developing referees and it gave alot of referees a practise,experience and we were always looking forwad to the challenge.The National tournament,Engen IPT when it was under USSASA in the late 90s,LoveLife Games which started from local associations right up to National Championships gave us that extra “practise” to improve our skills.

At that time Melo Mofolo was the National Technical Director and I did not know the likes of Naftal Chongo,Charles Foster,Charles Saunders whom I had only seen on TV.But I remember goin into a tournament where I met Conville Smith who is now an International Referee.

What is interesting with my story is that,during these times,there was programs for the referees.The referees were accountably to the National Technical Commission.

I am reminded of the day at the 1999 Engen National Championships in Durban where I refereed ONE game and I was told that i was not yet ready to officiate at this level and I had to be a Grade One.The advantage about those times was that there was support from the Senior guys who kept track of junior referees.So it took 4 years of work,dedication,love and perseverance to get my Grade One.I was then part of the structure,I had mentors.I was invited to Championships over and over.Whenever there was a National Camp in Durba I would be invited to officiate.

The interesting point to this is most of us during those years went to all these championshis and refereed games without getting paid.I am not suggesting that,the refeees of today should not be paid.Yes the standard of living today has changed compared to those years,however the driver to achieve all of this was passion and the love for the game.

Tshiamo makes an example with one of the referees I respect in this country who is also a good friend to me,Naftal.Most of the senior referees had to take from their own pockets to further their interest in referring.

I could go on and on about the story but maybe one needs to ask question around some of the points below:

1. Where are all the Senior referees that used to referee the games?Cant we co-opt some of them to be Commissioners and help facilitate the programs?
2. The referring will improve with the game and programs.In support to what Joe raises, what are BSA Strategic Development Plan to improve officials in this country?
3.Whithout the “correct” structure with the “correct leadership” to implement the programs we will still fail and theirfore,Who is the NTC and what are their objectives?
4. I agree to what is suggested that we must study other countries methods.What methods are we seem to be suggesting.
5. In the Rules and Regulations of BSA,there is a Commission which need to look in to the affairs of technical.Who are the people in the committee and Do they have the know how of what technical requires?

Lastly I want to say that BSA together with stakeholders like Sport and Recreation and Municipalities have a challenge to fix this problem.It is very said to see a referee being the one to decide on who becomes the winner of the game.What I have witnessed in the National Championships is that everyone is invited as long as they have representation from that particular province.It cannot be the case.We need to take the best.I think that senior referees must be brought back into the game and help improve the standard.

The mistake made also is that,as administrators,we tend to consider the services of the referees last whereas they are vital in our game…

POINT NO. 1

UNTIL WE REALISE THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING BSA, PROVINCIAL AND DISTRICT ASSOCIATIONS WE ARE LIVING IN A FOOL’S PARADISE.

Internationally and locally, sport is run through these associations and people in them understand thier importance and put efforts into developing them.

As ballers, we are SOO obsessed with everything American to an extent that we do not stop for a second and be critical.

FACT IS, we are located in South Africa within a specific sport framework. As such, for us to succeed we need to understand this framework and use it to our benefit.

Therefore, for us to be able to go forward effectively, we need to take lessons from local and internationaly bodies who function in similar circumstances. And as I have argued before Australia and Europe should be our benchmarks, NOT the US.

POINT NO 2

AGAIN, I have argue this before and I still stand by it.

WE NEED TO IMPLEMENT AN INTERGRATED DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY.

There is no way we can build basketball with the notion that if GBL is run succesfully then this will have a domino effect on the rest of bball. As has been stated by Tshiamo and also this article this is not as easy as it seems.

YES, the success of GBL will promote bball, but it will never result in an automatic holostic development of bball. If this philosophy was true, then the success of Metro should have ensured that Gauteng boys U18 would not have continuously lost to KZN.

FACT IS, the Football League in SA is the best run in Africa, second only to Egypt. BUT, this has not resulted in the improvement of the standard of players, coaches and officials. On the other hand, the Cricket league in SA falls far behind the one in England, yet our naitional team is the far better then theirs. This also applies to Rugby, where our players are always looking to play in the UK and France, but our national team kicks their butts.

The answer to the above riddle is that both Cricket and Rugby understand, supports and have implemented the Integrated Development Model. They understand that the succes of a sport is not dependent on a successful Premier league but on effective development structures.

I AM HOPING THAT ONE DAY AS BALLERS WE WILL ALSO STUDY AND EMBRACE THIS MODEL, CAUSE IT IS THE ONLY WAY WE CAN MOVE FORWARD EFFECTIVELY.