Please try again. In 1997, Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner became the first women to serve as referees in the NBA. She played in high school and college in Croatia and Puerto Rico before returning to the States and becoming a ref. 4091. $18K. Taking a look at the numbers behind Nikola Jokic's historic season for the Nuggets. All rights reserved. I havent worked as hard in my life ever at a job, then Ive worked in the NBA as a referee., Working her first NBA game in 2019, Jelks remembers an unprompted conversation with a player who approached her at center court, shook her hand and said Welcome to the League. So my predecessors recognized this and put those seeds into the G League. The current group of eight full-timers all did games, as did Clare Aubry, ShaRae Mitchell, Blanca Burns and Jenna Reneau. Despite women entering the professional sports ranks in historically all-male leagues - Jen Welter was an Arizona Cardinals assistant coaching intern this summer, and former WNBA star Becky Hammon . Women officials now make up 8% of the 75-member officiating staff as the league continues its focus on hiring the most talented and hardest-working referees in the business. "Once or twice a week in the summer, we would get on a Skype call and spend an hour or two hours talking rules, talking scenarios, situations. Today, there are five full-time women referees in the NBA -- the most in the . It does take time to develop officials, McCutchen said. Individual game assignments for referees are posted at NBA.com/official at approximately 9 a.m. Moyer-Gleich officiated three seasons in the NBA G League, including the 2018 playoffs. "It's almost normal now. The NBA feels very strongly that this should be a meritocracy. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting. The initiative is one that comes straight from the top of the NBA hierarchy. 7:30 PM ET With four more working on a part-time basis and two fill-ins from the NBA G League, the league has a dozen women on call to make calls on any given night. Moyer-Gleich recounts similar experiences. With four more working on a part-time basis and two fill-ins from the NBA G League, the league has a dozen women on call to make calls on any given night. WNBA. As the buzzer sounded, the father of one of the boys in the game approached and accosted her over her gender. Inspiration was even easier to come by for Jenna Schroeder, 35, another former collegiate athlete who, like Holtkamp-Sterling, transitioned to the officiating side following college. (See the clip below.) "We are a very empowered group of women," Jelks said. Today, there are a total of five full-time women NBA referees, an all-time league high. Today, Palmer counts men she worked with among her best friends. N BA commissioner Adam Silver wants more female referees in the NBA. Strides are being made, even if we're still talking about small percentages of the overall population and more work is clearly needed. And thats the way our society should be, McCutchen said. "They say I'm the sixth female referee in the NBA," said Schroeder, the sixth woman officially hired as a full-time NBA referee. Twenty-four of the G League's 57 referees are women, plus several who jump between the NBA and G League (all NBA officials with under four years of experience are commonly assigned as crew chief for G League games to gain experience); 15 of the WNBA's 33 referees are women, nine of whom also work games in the G League. To order copies of . In March 2015, the NBA began issuing Last Two Minutes reports that detail the performance of referees at the ends of games which the . Now, there are five different women officiating games on a nightly basis. A camera crew came out to the floor to film the in-arena entertainment and there was a woman videographer who approached her and said, I am really glad that youre here.. Maj Forsberg, who came from Denmark and played for the Rainbow Wahine from 1996-2000, sat behind . "[He] confronted me and told me I didn't belong there, working that game," Holtkamp-Sterling recounted years later. Both entered the league fully in 1997, and Palmer, now 56, got the honor of making history when she donned the whistle for a late October game that year. 2 min read. The NBA has made significant alterations since Palmer and Kantner's day, where the league would have to improvise a makeshift women's locker room in arenas that weren't prepared for them. My ideals completely match up with the NBAs and I think it would be difficult to work for a company if your ideals didnt and I just feel very fortunate that they believe in everything I believe in.. Its just fantastic. Flores has spent nine seasons in the G League and 10 in the WNBA, and is also an accomplished women's college referee with two Final Fours on her resume. Referee, the world's original sports officiating magazine, educates, challenges and inspires officials at all levels. WNBA. This article is the copyright of Referee Enterprises, Inc., and may not be republished in whole or in part online, in print or in any capacity without expressed written permission from Referee. The NBA now has eight . But when she made the transition from basketball player to basketball referee, her perspective on those tough moments shifted dramatically. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The average salary of a male basketball player is put at $7.7 million while that of their female counterparts is a mere $100,658. But she viewed the NBA as a challenge to conquer, plus she took comfort in the fact that at the time, NBA mechanics were actually pretty similar to those she was used to at the women's college level. Similar to Holtkamp, Jelks played basketball at a highly competitive level before entering the world of officiating. Although she considers herself a basketball junkie, the former collegiate softball player is also a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan and follows the sport closely. THE FIRST NBA INDIAN ORIGIN REFEREES JOURNEY FROM PRE-MED TO PRE-REF, NBRA ANNOUNCES RATIFICATION OF AGREEMENT FOR G LEAGUE START OF SEASON, While Turners arms are vertical, he is jumping A to B into the path of Brown. WNBA announces officials for WNBA Playoffs 2021 presented by Google, WNBA Draft 2023 presented by State Farm to be held on April 10, NBA legend Pau Gasol named recipient of 2023 Kobe & Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award, WNBAs streaming platform, WNBA League Pass, to include 2023 Athletes Unlimited basketball games, First-ever WNBA Canada game to feature Sky and Lynx in Toronto, Defending WNBA champion Aces to host AT&T WNBA All-Star 2023, DICKS Sporting Goods becomes Official Sporting Goods Retail Partner of the WNBA. McCutchen said the league has no data indicating referees are challenged more or less based on gender. Probably. Under scrutiny from her first tipoff, Palmer instantly proved she could withstand the grumbling and ref . Her husband, Johnee Gleich, is currently an official in the NCAA. Who is the player of the year in every women's college basketball conference? Camp Hill resident Ashley Moyer-Gleich is in her second month as the fourth-ever female NBA referee. may be duplicated, redistributed or manipulated in any form. More than anything, it's that normalcy that today's women NBA referees aspire to. So, we make mistakes out there on the floor, but the main thing is we have to just move on and reset., For me, if something goes wrong or if I can do something better, I look at the clock, then memorize the time on the game clock and time on the shot clock and just reset.. But again, thats counting. #24 Scott, #77 Lane, #17 Sterling By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of all the cookies. Any player or coach would be ill-advised to go there. Copyright 2023 NBA Media Ventures, LLC. But neither supply nor demand were what they are now. Ten women have held that job in league history, with the current eight joining Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner on that list. Scott, the daughter of college basketball officials, was promoted Monday to the full-time NBA staff referee roster. Top 5 NBA female referees in the game today 1) Lauren Holtkamp . New to motherhood another around-the-clock job Moyer-Gleich remembers getting hired in 2018 as the jumping-off point for the league, which has now been a domino effect of more women coming through the officiating pipeline. Officials will be evaluated after each round of the playoffs to determine future advancement in the 2021 postseason. The first category of referees we're going to be looking at is WNBA referees. Most notably, then-Celtics broadcaster Cedric Maxwell used a stunningly offensive "get back in the kitchen" line for a game Palmer was officiating in 2007 (Maxwell would later apologize). The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Off the court, Moyer-Gleich likes to spend time outdoors with her family, plan events and take photographs. No portion of NBA.com The NBA now has eight women at the full-time referee level, the most the league has ever had at one time. Natalie Sago, 31, a 2018 addition to the league, had a birthright motivating her: Her father, Dr. Shelton Sago, was a 35-year high school official in Missouri, a local legend in both basketball and football. Could this have come sooner? It'll just be the norm.". "And I say that very positively. Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. Katie Patterson. Subscribe to get the Referee.com Review every week plus periodic free training and special offers on the sports you officiate. Well-known referees on the high end are individuals like Tony Brothers and of course, Scott Foster who Chris Paul is all too familiar with. Holtkamp reffed in the G-League for six years before eventually getting the call-up to the big stage. It put tears in her eyes "that someone would actually put me in that class of people." This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. There's simply a desire to make this world, and others like it, more accessible. Mosher has . Its really satisfying to say, We dont have to go and search for women referees, said Monty McCutchen, the NBAs senior vice president, head of referee development and training. Referees in the National Basketball Association (NBA) oversee 120 pre-season games, 1,260 regular season games, and four rounds of playoff matches.These officials "oversee competition in real-time between 10 exceptional athletes, making calls with 95% accuracy.". Today, she is best known for the memes that surfaced after an encounter she had with Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic. NCAA gymnastics 2023: Who has surprised this season? She becomes the sixth woman on the current staff, joining Lauren Holtkamp-Sterling, Ashley Moyer-Gleich, Simone . NEW YORK The WNBA today announced the 15 referees who have earned spots to serve as on-court and/or alternate officials in the WNBA Playoffs 2021 presented by Google. rights reserved. "There are a lot of things I want to say about the officiating . copyright 2023 National Basketball Referees Association. We all started somewhere. The 2022-23 Stanford Cardinal women's basketball team will represent Stanford University during the 2022-23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. Playoff officials are selected by the WNBA Referee Operations management team based on three specific criteria throughout the season: WNBA Referee Operations graded rankings, play-calling accuracy and team feedback. Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com, Conversations are opinions of our readers and are subject to the, The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star "Being a Black woman herself, being a trailblazer as the first African-American [woman referee] in the NBA, she understands 100% of the challenges that I face," Jelks, 35, said. Five full-time women in officiating today eclipses the total of the NFL, MLB and NHL combined. "Here we are in a very male-dominated space, and the league was very proactive to make sure I had what I needed.". The NBA Referee's salary varies according to the job distinction as well as the experience of the referee. WNBA 2020 Playoffs: Points of Education (Part 1) UFC 285's Shevchenko by the numbers: It all adds up to domination, Infighting of Women's World Cup faves Spain, France, Canada reveals big issues in the sport. You can e-mail himhere, findhis archive hereandfollow him on Twitter. I'm good, I'll tell you whether or not she's cute!' You can talk about the girl in the fifth row with the big ta-tas! 1. The first female NBA referees Chuck Solomon/Getty Images. As the NBA continues to normalize the notion of women officials in this male-dominated space, Holtkamp-Sterling is confident the league is moving in the right direction. Newspapers Limited, 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. She became a professional referee in 1999 by officiating matches in the Women's Bundesliga, after that she was selected to officiate in the Regionalliga.