Provincial Assessor’s Report

This certainly has been an interesting year with the adoption of the CIS Rules and the two person Federation Mechanics.  My congratulations to all officials throughout the Province for a job well done. We made it through some small glitches and by midway through the season; things began to fall in place.  The success achieved in this endeavor certainly speaks volumes for the hard work and dedication of the officials in Nova Scotia.

The new rules have been well received by both players and coaches.  One of the main attributes here is the fact that all participants watch NCAA on TV and regularly attend both AUS and ACAA games that use these rules, thus making the understanding of the rules a much easier transition. 

I am sure everyone is well aware of the move from Basketball Canada to have all Provinces return to Fiba Mechanics.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out in next few months.  The coaches I have spoken with at the AUS and ACAA levels are certainly not sold on the idea.  One coach in particular spoke very strongly against the move stating, “They want us to move to FIBA Rules to help 48 players in Canada, The National Team.  That’s Bleep!”  Use your imagination here.

I was in a unique position this year having the ACAA Commissioner’s position.  This provided me the opportunity to see most of our top-level officials work.  I was able to get to all venues on a couple of occasions.  The Atlantic Coast Classic was a very valuable vehicle in the assessment process.  During my visits to the various games sites I was able to have both pre and post games meetings with most officials.  Our Province has a strong core of experienced senior officials that continue to provide quality officiating at the ACAA and AUS levels.

Overall, our Province is doing well providing a good quality service to all levels of basketball.  It has become obvious, however, that we must make a more aggressive move to recruit new officials.  In select areas, officials are overworked and in some cases, games are being handled by one official or cancelled.    We need to address the topic and look for ways to attract new people.

The officials working the NSSAF tournament this year did another fabulous job.  Reports from tournament organizers, coaches and fans have been extremely position.  I was able to visit the Division 1 Girls, Division 1 Boys and Division 2 Boys to observe officials.  This gave me the opportunity to witness first hand the quality officiating going on at these sites.

Congratulations to the special achievements of the following officials:

Jon Hunt                       CIS & AUS Men’s Tournaments

Paul Hanson                 CIS & AUS Women’s Tournaments

Reg Caulfield                AUS Men’s Tournament

Ted Wallace                 AUS Men’s Tournament

Dave McGratton                      CCAA & ACAA Men’s Tournament

Chris Ross                    ACAA   Tournament   

Brian States                  ACAA   Tournament

Ken Fells                      Level 11 certification

Erin Schaus                  Level 11 certification

Duncan Milne               Level 11 certification

Larry MacKenzie                     Level 11 certification

Ryan Lutes                   Level 11 certification

Darren Dahl                  First Step Level 11 certification

Jeff Burke                     First Step Level 11 certification

Submitted,

Reg Jewkes

Provincial Assessor