"I remember learning about Dee and Violet being NBA referees," Holtkamp-Sterling said of her younger self. Im so happy for you.. 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). Six women referees took part in the . The NBA feels very strongly that this should be a meritocracy. In addition, referees are paid bonus money for working the playoffs and NBA Finals. Off the court, Moyer-Gleich likes to spend time outdoors with her family, plan events and take photographs. Certainly not. And Silver . 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.. 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. More than anything, it's that normalcy that today's women NBA referees aspire to. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. Now, there are five different women officiating games on a nightly basis. As a young girl, the basketball court was one of the only places where Simone Jelks could simply be herself. I love that Im a part of an organization that hires you based on if you can do the job and based on your skills. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". ET each game day. After seeing an overwhelmingly male-dominated officiating staff through the late 1990s and early 2000s, fans began to notice more female referees. Floyd Mayweather interested in buying NBA team, Blake Griffin trolled by YouTuber courtside. Holtkamp-Sterling, now 40, had just finished officiating a youth boy's game as the solo referee. Just as meaningful, though, is the broader support structure that's been created. Strides are being made, even if we're still talking about small percentages of the overall population and more work is clearly needed. According to a warrant for Morrow's arrest, he's facing charges of assault by strangulation, second-degree kidnapping and communicating threats. Of course," Palmer, who retired from the NBA in 2016, said. When Holtkamp-Sterling returned to officiating after giving birth in 2019, the league had arranged specific accommodations for her as its first-ever mother to officiate a game. I think that the NBA is very visual and theyve done a great job of showing that. "Lauren took about six of us under her wing a couple summers ago," Sago said. Referee - August 12, 2021. I wanted to do as many games as I could to prepare me to work in the NBA. Individual game assignments for referees are posted at NBA.com/official at approximately 9 a.m. There won't be a number anymore. Amy Bonner took up refereeing as a student at the University of Missouri in the early 1990s, calling rec league games, and by 2002 she was officiating games in the NBA's Developmental League. 4 Sean Wright, And if it were male officials, you wouldnt call them sensitive.. "And I say that very positively. Those who followed them still faced real challenges. It put tears in her eyes "that someone would actually put me in that class of people." View. It's something that the NBA's senior vice president spoke about last year, pointing out how there hasn't been a concentrated effort to hire female referees. rights reserved. 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. In the N.B.A., four of the 70 full-time officials last season were women, the league said. Next up is Simone Jelks, who became the league's seventh full-time female ref in 2019. 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. The former Cedar Crest and Millersville guard wasn't planning to be a ref at all but a college . She was blown away recently when a friend referred to her as the "Jackie Robinson of officiating." After all, she could have stayed in women's basketball, where she was one of the top officials in the college world. College basketball referees for D-1 men's NCAA games make over $2,000 per game and they can work over 70 games per season, so their annual salary for working the NCAA season is approximately $150,000 the same as an entry-level ref in the NBA. Schroeder said she'd love to see her daughter take up officiating when she grows up -- although she joked her wife, Anderson, may represent the more lucrative career path as a physician. And thats not where the NBA or any other meritocracy wants to be if its goal is to have the most talented, hardest-working members get the most opportunities and rise highest. 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.. Oct 15, 2022. 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. He . The six full-timers are Natalie Sago, Ashley Moyer-Gleich, Simone Jelks, Jenna Schroeder, Danielle Scott and Holtkamp-Sterling (married to fellow NBA ref Jonathan Sterling). She becomes the sixth woman on the current staff, joining Lauren Holtkamp-Sterling, Ashley Moyer-Gleich, Simone . Who is the player of the year in every women's college basketball conference? 2020. In the 1990s, only two female referees managed to work their way to the top. In his words, all the league had to do was hire the best people for the job. Sago would eventually work with all three superstars during her path to the NBA, which included stops at various levels including high school college, the G League and the WNBA. Referee. Maj Forsberg, who came from Denmark and played for the Rainbow Wahine from 1996-2000, sat behind . I think when I got hired, that had its own sort of significance and same for all the women after me. She would love to see the MLB bring women into the umpire ranks, just as the NBA has demonstrated with its own officials throughout the years. Please logout and login again. Copyright 2022 Referee Enterprises Inc. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. She worked the 2013 and 2014 NBA G League Finals and the 2014 WNBA Conference Finals. #NBA #NBAReferees twitter.com/i/web/status/1. As WWE's New Day would say, shame! According to the National Basketball Association (NBA), this is the first time ever that two female referees officiated the same NBA game. During the 2021-22 NFL season, the . Today, Palmer counts men she worked with among her best friends. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. R denotes rookie. For female basketball referees, men's college basketball may be the bleakest of frontiers. The Pennsylvania native has four years of collegiate officiating experience, with stints in the ACC, Atlantic 10, Patriot League and Ivy League, among other conferences. Erica Ayala. But Holtkamp-Sterling believes shes the one paying homage and praises Palmer and Kantner for breaking barriers as the first two women officials in the NBA. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". 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. There was an error submitting your subscription. Even while on maternity leave, shes locked into games every single night, which now she gets to do with her son by her side. Long before she was hired in the NBA, the Flint, Mich., native didnt know that refereeing could be a full-time job. Boger is the only referee to retire this offseason. Our women officials give technical fouls at the same rate as anyone else., Said Williams: I hope one day well be able to look at them as officials instead of a lady official or a male official.. Please try again. According to numbers provided by the NBA, 16 of the 65 referees (28 percent) in the NBA G League are women, and at the conclusion of the 2017 WNBA season, 12 of the 32 referees (37 percent) were . Once an individual reaches senior level, they make an average of $500,000 per year. Basketball Referee Salaries for Other Leagues. Whether they are sharing experiences from their rookie seasons or answering any of her questions, she finds comfort knowing she can trust her peers in any situation. While Palmer and Kantner are no longer working for the NBA, their legacies live on. Her love for simply being on the basketball court fused with her desire to prove those naysayers wrong. Moyer-Gleich recounts similar experiences. Entry-level NBA referees earn $250,000 per year as "rookies." 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. She also has five years of high school officiating experience in her home state. Sago, 31, and Schroeder, 35, were two of the three people on the officiating crew . None of it bothered me. Palmer and Kantner smashed this barrier; those who came after them are trying to stomp on its remains. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Referee data is available for the 1988-89 through 2022-23 seasons. CHICAGO --Prior to Game 3 of the 2021 WNBA Finals on Friday night, Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi addressed the $2,500 fine she received from the league for making "inappropriate contact . The first category is WNBA referees, the second is entry-level referees and the third is the top of the line senior referees the best of the best. Bonner already had started working NCAA Division I women's . In 2003, she was the main referee for the 2002-03 Women's DFB-Pokal final between 1. 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. "Those girls get to see me on this platform, working with men in a male-dominated field.". I would love for you guys to be a part of it.' 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. But now, in 2021-22, the NBA has six female referees on its full-time officiating staff, the most ever. The Australian was the first female to officiate the A-League series in 2015. She played through college and worked her way up the high school, college . The NBA's roster of female referees continues to grow. By TIM REYNOLDS October 18, 2021. N BA commissioner Adam Silver wants more female referees in the NBA. Effectively the glue for a crew through consistency, teamwork, and communication - makes partners better by carrying a larger portion of the crew's load than an Umpire. Compared to other sports, referee's earnings in the NBA and WNBA are among the best. The salary slab of referees is decided as per their experience. None of it deterred her -- in fact, quite the opposite. She officiated games for the B-League, WNBA, Big East, and ACC during her journey to the top. She rattles off names: Steve Javie, Jack Nies, Billy Oakes, Joey Crawford. Schroeder's wife, Britta Anderson, was a pioneer in her own right: Back in 2011, with virtually no women in similar positions whatsoever, she was hired as the associate team physician for MLB's Detroit Tigers -- a role she still occupies today. Referee assignments are posted at approximately 9:00am ET each game day. She etched her name into the history books as the first mother to officiate a league game. Legitimate acceptance has come in waves. 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.. 2020 WNBA Inside the Rulebook: Block, Charge. Back then, Palmer hardly had time to consider the significance of her accomplishment. Cheryl Flores and Dannica Mosher have been promoted to the level of full-time staff officials, the NBA said Thursday. Referee Michael Oliver, however, waved play on and the VAR, Darren England, saw no reason to ask him to look again at his decision. While that was the most overtly negative experience Holtkamp-Sterling recalls from her career, it wasn't the only one. Now were bearing the fruit of this.. WNBA referee Kevin Fahy is facing criticism for his extravagant ejection of Chicago Sky center Astou Ndour. "Kids have to see that things are possible," Jelks said. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. Were capable and not just capable but like beyond excellent and can do the job just as well as our male counterparts.. Then, five years later, there was one: Palmer. RotoWire considers the best player values in Yahoo fantasy leagues for Friday's 10-game slate. It stuck for good, always as a term of endearment. She played in high school and college in Croatia and Puerto Rico before returning to the States and becoming a ref. The most recent estimations put NBA referees annual salaries between $180,000 and $550,000. WNBA 2020 Playoffs: Points of Education (Part 1) In terms of explaining certain officiating calls during live games, Moyer-Gleich uses her past experience as a player to translate and articulate the rule book into basketball jargon that players and coaches will understand. Scott, the daughter of college basketball officials, was promoted Monday to the full-time NBA staff referee roster. Moyer-Gleich officiated three seasons in the NBA G League, including the 2018 playoffs. Cheryl Flores and Dannica Mosher have been promoted to the level of full-time staff officials, the NBA said Thursday. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. She was working a high school AAU tournament one weekend when a bystander approached her with a simple question: Why dont you do this for a living? The entry-level referees are paid around $600 per match. The 2004 graduate of Brush High School worked 16 regular-season NBA . The approval of her peers in the officiating world. Holtkamp, Moyer-Gleich, and Sago were the only three female referees that were active in the NBA for the 2018 season. By. Newspapers Limited, 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. And this is exactly what a true meritocracy looks like., More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports, Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be a registered Torstar account holder. Those inside the program aren't the only ones seeing this progress anymore, either. No portion of NBA.com "It's almost normal now. But Palmer and Kantner's influence on today's generation is immense and undeniable. I was totally fan-girling. Professional basketball has broken world barriers by having star players from countless different countries and broken the gender barrier as well. 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.. She was the first female referee in German professional football. As it turns out, there are three categories that NBA referees fall into. Holtkamp-Sterling finds comfort in having close working relationships with other NBA officials. NBA adds 4 new full-time referees, including 2 female NBA referees . Referee Eric Brewton during the game between the Las Vegas Aces and Connecticut Sun in Game Three of the Semifinals of the 2020 WNBA Playoffs on. The Associated Press released a study Friday regarding the NCAA referee pay gap. All five women said they'd absolutely recommend refereeing both men's and women's basketball to any young woman with the drive and dedication. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. "Middle child" is perhaps more fitting; as the only one of the five, current full-time women in the league with a direct connection to the Palmer/Kantner days. February 4, 2021. 3 Nick Buchert, Smithfield, Ky., 10. Tickets for the WNBA's first-ever preseason matchup in Canada featuring the Chicago Sky and the Minnesota Lynx go on sale Wednesday, March 8, on International Women's Day. "[He] confronted me and told me I didn't belong there, working that game," Holtkamp-Sterling recounted years later. $425. Cheryl Flores and Dannica Mosher have been promoted to the level of full-time staff officials, the NBA said Thursday. The first time Jenna Schroeder was booed by 40,000 NBA fans as she exited the court, she knew she had finally made it. . Earning a high school diploma or GED is the minimum education requirement for referees across league levels. In the beginning, back in 1997, there were two: Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner. And to this day, I dont think people know that thats actually a thing.. Since Holtkamp-Sterling, four more women have been hired as full-time NBA referees. 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 . But no one, not by a long shot, thinks the work is done. Our paths are all different but we all got to the same end goal.. Active referees are listed in bold. I had absolutely no idea you could be a referee and make a living out of it. Palmer broke barriers in 1997 when she became the first female to referee an NBA game. Could this have come sooner? These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. WNBA. Today, there are five full-time women referees in the NBA -- the most in the . Currently, there are six female referees who work NBA games, up from one, Lauren Holtkamp, seven years ago. Officiating In Perspective with Barry Mano, 2020 Womens National Basketball Association, 2017 Womens National Basketball Association Roster, 2016 Womens National Basketball Association Roster, Next Level Softball Umpiring Free Email Series, High School Volleyball Officials Quiz 2023. Moyer-Gleich tells multiple stories of NBA security staff confusing her for a cheerleader or a referee's wife when she entered the building to officiate games; to varying degrees, her peers have similar experiences. Sago, Holtkamp-Sterling, Schroeder and Moyer-Gleich were all on-hand in Clearwater, Florida to celebrate Sago's 30th birthday a couple summers ago (Jelks wasn't yet a full-time official). With the average salary for a player in the WNBA being just $102,751, the fact that first-year referees are making so much is pretty surprising. "I'll prove myself amongst them, so they'll look at me as just a referee," Palmer said of her mindset at the time. And despite having to transcend this gendered space, the officials recognize that the job of refereeing is not actually gendered work. I dont notice whether coaches are hands off. I havent seen any [bullying]. Ashley Moyer-Gleich talks with Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. She joined the pros as a full-time ref in 2018 and had a side career as a bartender while climbing her way up the ranks. They all worked between 20 and 26 games as non-staff referees last season. The second category of referees are the Entry-level NBA referees. Ex-Rainbow Wahine Maj Forsberg makes mark in WNBA landscape as league's only female crew chief. Add four from the list of nine part-timers and the share of female refs bumps to 12%. The NBAs roster of female referees continues to grow. To that effect, there have been real efforts toward promoting equality and diversity within the officiating ranks, the sort that may not make headlines but truly advance a progressive agenda. 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 Furthermore, a lot of WNBA referees spend their off-season refereeing Division I women's (and men's) college basketball games. Not only that, but the grind to becoming a professional referee requires true dedication. 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. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Before becoming a ref in 2018, Moyer-Gleich officiated games for the WNBA. WNBA 2020: Points of Education (Part 2) Kallio a native of Edmonton, Alberta has seven years of G League experience, five years of WNBA experience and worked the Tokyo Olympics. 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 . 2023 Getty Images. 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. Top 5 NBA female referees in the game today 1) Lauren Holtkamp . Marc J. Spears, a senior writer for ESPN . "They say I'm the sixth female referee in the NBA," said Schroeder, the sixth woman officially hired as a full-time NBA referee. From pace of play to call selectivity, Scotts transition from the G League, to the WNBA and now to the NBA has been a whirlwind but shes enjoying the learning process. Danielle Scott (right) talks with officiating partners during a game. The women that are coming on the scene now are helping us -- we're not helping them.". She will return for her 10th season in the WNBA, all of which have been in Phoenix, after she missed last year because of a 10-month detainment in Russia. It was the first time that women officiated regular-season games in an all-male U.S. professional league. Senior-level referees are the best of the best. Boger, 67, joined the NFL in 2004 as a line judge. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 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. ET. Professional referees in the National Basketball Association are divided into three distinctions: Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), entry-level and Senior. But again, thats counting. Hussey has worked five G League seasons and two in the WNBA. "I have always shown great respect for the referees and my career supports me," Ndour wrote on Twitter with a clip of the incident after . In 1997, Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner became the first women . And that is where the NBA has been busy in recent years. And to the people who run the NBA's officiating program, efforts in recent years to open recruiting pathways and increase diversity are far from merely symbolic: They're practical for a league always striving to improve. She served as a WNBA referee in 2018. Not that anyone is counting or, at least, needs to be. Including various bonuses and incentives, NBA referees can make a total of $550,000 annually. Referees: Katie Lukanich, Darren Krzesnik, Kyle Bacon. The NBA now has the most . Rather, they've tried to go further. FFC Frankfurt and FCR 2001 Duisburg. That only works if there are sufficient aspirants to form a true competitive pool of candidates. "She did it way before all of us, before the world we live in now that's all accepting," Moyer-Gleich said of Kantner. Last up on the list is Jenna Schroeder. It does take time to develop officials, McCutchen said. If you do not yet have a Torstar account, you can create one now (it is free), Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. Those changes include separate dedicated locker rooms for women officials. When she retired in 2016 after her 18-season career, it was back to one: Lauren Holtkamp. Here's the 12 hottest female referees on the planet. These goals are attainable now in ways they just couldn't have been even a generation prior.