President's Report

Fall 2006

This coming basketball season will be filled with many challenges for all members of NSBO.

With rule changes once again looming on the horizon, our organization may again be faced with a group of rules that differ from site to site. We forged a good battle in working to unify all rules sets and by all accounts were providing a service to our clients with officials that possess a great knowledge of the rules and mechanics required of us to be successful. I am approaching the impending switch to FIBA as just a minor bump in the road and a year from now we will see where we are.

This year’s struggles to recruit and retain officials will be no different than they have been in the past. Officials come on board, work for a while, some stay and others go. As basketball continues to flourish in this province, NSBO must be proactive in making sure we can recruit and retain officials.

In recent meetings I have attended and listening to our counterparts across the country, I believe it’s incumbent on us to develop a plan to identify people we wish to recruit as officials and spend our vast resources to train those individuals to become the officials of the future for our association.

We have the means and the tools we need to enact a plan. I am currently looking at documents from other regions and some from other countries on how they work their programs. We have qualified national evaluators and capable high level officials who can all be part of this program, guiding these young and aspiring officials in the same fashion others have done for us. We can allocate funds through our Professional Development initiatives to further enhance this process in addition to the veterans among us lending a guiding hand. This is a big commitment for people who already are overtaxed on their schedules. If each of us commits to this process, I believe we can become a leader in this country.

I applaud Jon Hunt and Greg Parsons for developing a method of evaluating officials within MABO. This process will only further strengthen the quality of officiating in the busiest region provincially.

It is also incumbent of our area supervisors in other regions to get out and see officials work and provide them with proper feedback. The common complaint I’m hearing is that officials are not receiving enough, if any feedback to advance their game. Please be a leader in our organization. You are elected by those people to do the job of educating and leading and I know we have elected you all for these reasons.

Area assignors must also help in this process by placing officials in level appropriate games with officials who can serve as mentors for those aspiring to reach the next level.

Finally, the officials themselves have to take ownership of their own careers, forge a path, get some advice, be assessed and work hard for the betterment of your game and the betterment of basketball.

There have been several key changes to the Professional Development Fund and access to it that will benefit officials of all levels throughout the province. Review it, as well as all the items contained within our operating guidelines.

All I ask is that all of us in some way or another step up and be a leader. We already do this in so many ways with the vast resources we have. Cater to your talents and work with others.

The game of basketball will thank you for it.

Have a great season!!

Sam McNeish