Our paths are all different but we all got to the same end goal.. Bonner already had started working NCAA Division I women's . Conley was in the G League for seven seasons, Schwab for five and, like Scott, they also worked WNBA games this season. 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. 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. It would quickly give way not only to an increase in gender diversity among officials, but to an inspiring tale of women empowerment and mentorship at the highest levels of a traditionally male field -- one full of locker room anecdotes, weekly Skype chats, group birthday vacations and a number of challenges. Holtkamp reffed in the G-League for six years before eventually getting the call-up to the big stage. As our numbers are increasing, that sort of noteworthiness is becoming more about this collective experience and collective momentum that is here and thats just really, really rewarding.. 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 . Rules, interpretations, mechanics, philosophies and other information may or may not be correct for the current year. There was an error submitting your subscription. @ESPNNBA These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. The first category of referees we're going to be looking at is WNBA referees. Several of the full-timers are close friends off the court. Taking a look at the numbers behind Nikola Jokic's historic season for the Nuggets. Could this have come sooner? MLB umpires rake in an impressive $300,000 annually, and the referees in the NHL receives around $275,000 . Women's Euros. Marc J. Spears, a senior writer for ESPN . They all worked between 20 and 26 games as non-staff referees last season. Please logout and login again. In the WNBA, an entry-level referee makes an average of $16,000 a year, or $425 per game . Female NBA Referees Are Becoming a Normal Part of the Game. Now check your email to confirm your subscription to the Referee.com Review. With more female referees officiating games, fans have begun to wonder if there's a pay gap between female referees and male referees. Looking for a way to soothe anxious nerves, she called Kantner before her first WNBA game, then again before her first NBA preseason game. 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 . Kicking off the list is Lauren Holtkamp. Floyd Mayweather interested in buying NBA team, Blake Griffin trolled by YouTuber courtside. You can talk about the girl in the fifth row with the big ta-tas! These women, who collectively had precious few female sports icons as children, now recognize their own role in inspiring a future generation. In his words, all the league had to do was hire the best people for the job. "Here we are in a very male-dominated space, and the league was very proactive to make sure I had what I needed.". 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 average salary of a male basketball player is put at $7.7 million while that of their female counterparts is a mere $100,658. "They congratulated me for getting hired and being in the WNBA, I was like, that . Areas like these come to the forefront as the NBA continues to strive for an earned reputation as a progressive organization. While standing on the free-throw extended line during a timeout, Lauren Holtkamp-Sterling recalls a quiet yet powerful moment early in her NBA officiating career. And despite having to transcend this gendered space, the officials recognize that the job of refereeing is not actually gendered work. Jelks becomes the seventh female full-time ref in NBA history, with the current five preceded by Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer. WNBA 2020: Points of Education (Part 1) WNBA. Flores has spent nine seasons in the G League and 10 in the WNBA, and is also an accomplished womens college referee with two Final Fours on her resume. 1. Referee, the world's original sports officiating magazine, educates, challenges and inspires officials at all levels. The most recent estimations put NBA referees annual salaries between $180,000 and $550,000. Before finally making her way to the league, Schroeder reffed in almost every league imaginable. Ashley Moyer-Gleich, 33, a former Millersville University college basketball player who debuted as a full-time NBA referee in 2018 after working in the WNBA, took years of mentorship from Kantner; both are from cities within an hour of each other in Pennsylvania. But, its hard for someone whos a player to sit down and read the rule book and understand it because its so its not relatable to how a player understands the game.. "Lauren took about six of us under her wing a couple summers ago," Sago said. In 2003, she was the main referee for the 2002-03 Women's DFB-Pokal final between 1. "I feel very grateful that there were people before me to have experienced the initial pushback of what it's like being a female in a male-driven world," Jelks said. Holtkamp officiated in numerous collegiate conferences, including the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East and Colonial Athletic. 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. The NBA now has eight women at the full-time referee level, the most the league has ever had at one time. It'll just be the norm.". Newspapers Limited, 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. Referee Position. She got her professional start in the WNBA, which was a big deal for her because she grew up idolizing players such as Candace Parker and Diana Taurasi. "Kids have to see that things are possible," Jelks said. 2020 WNBA Inside the Rulebook: Block, Charge. As far as WNBA referees, they make considerably less. And as the first to reach this plateau since, she's turned around and served a similarly important role for those following her. Women's . "There's no reason why we shouldn't have more women as officials, coaches and basketball executives in our league," Silver said. 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. 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. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Top 5 NBA female referees in the game today 1) Lauren Holtkamp . Its just fantastic. In 2014, Lauren Holtkamp-Sterling became the first woman hired as a full-time NBA official in nearly two decades. As the buzzer sounded, the father of one of the boys in the game approached and accosted her over her gender. The NBA now has eight . Captaincy chaos and Waldrum ultimatums - Will Nigeria be ready for World Cup. This is the league's . 2021 Women's National Basketball Association. Furthermore, a lot of WNBA referees spend their off-season refereeing Division I women's (and men's) college basketball games. While that was the most overtly negative experience Holtkamp-Sterling recalls from her career, it wasn't the only one. It put tears in her eyes "that someone would actually put me in that class of people." 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. Senior-level referees are the best of the best. 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 . Who is the player of the year in every women's college basketball conference? The approval of her peers in the officiating world. any players who have declared for the 2022 WNBA draftincluding seniors, . Thirteen of the 31 referees in the WNBA are women. 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. The referees had to be ready and so did the players, coaches and fans. Before becoming an NBA referee, Holtkamp played college basketball at Southwest Missouri State. But now, in 2021-22, the NBA has six female referees on its full-time officiating staff, the most ever. Today, she is best known for the memes that surfaced after an encounter she had with Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic. 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 . Grasping it entirely is a struggle. She was the first female referee in German professional football. The three prominent distinctions among the NBA Referees are entry-level referees or rookies, referees for the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and senior-level referees. Career Explorer Guide also estimated . #NBA #NBAReferees twitter.com/i/web/status/1. Female referees make a maximum single-game pay of $5,000 if they work the Super Bowl. 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. No portion of NBA.com He was promoted to referee in 2006 and has overseen gameday officiating crews since. With the second half of the 2021-22 season well underway, shes now starting to develop those relationships as she gets more reps across the league. (Suggested reading: Floyd Mayweather interested in buying NBA team). She's taken it to a new level. Although there's no word on what their yearly raise looks like, after three to five years of working as an entry-level referee, officials are eligible to be promoted to the next level. . Cheryl Flores and Dannica Mosher have been promoted to the level of full-time staff officials, the NBA said Thursday. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Five full-time women in officiating today eclipses the total of the NFL, MLB and NHL combined. A record 12 women worked games last season in the NBA, some getting called up from the G League and non-staff levels to help when the leagues officiating roster was decimated by COVID-19. However, her journey was slightly different from some of her female counterparts. "She'll always say, if I did it, you can do it. Simone Jelks worked her first game in the NBA in 2019. During one year of Schroeders journey, she worked seven days a week for six months straight. When we see three females working the G League together, we're empowered, we're inspired. (Suggested reading: Blake Griffin trolled by YouTuber courtside), Be the first one to comment on this story. RotoWire names five under-the-radar players who could add value to your rosters as we approach fantasy playoffs. . To order copies of Success! The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Natalie Sago and Jenna Schroeder have made NBA history as the first female referees to work on the same court. "In that moment, he was being very clear -- there was no micro-aggression or anything: 'I'm going to tell you exactly that I don't think you belong here doing this.'". It's needed that we strengthen each other emotionally, and just have that good support team.". 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. And that is where the NBA has been busy in recent years. Were capable and not just capable but like beyond excellent and can do the job just as well as our male counterparts.. I feel like women, especially women in male-dominated industries, always in the back of our heads, theres a little space, no matter how well we are doing, like Am I good enough? and the answer will always be yes.. "In recent years, we have focused on expanding our pipeline of officials to greatly increase the pool of potential hires, and we have seen encouraging results, not only in the NBA but in the WNBA and the G League as well," Adam Silver, who became NBA commissioner in 2014, said to ESPN. "Her advice is always authentic.". 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. Women NBA Referees. By accessing any information beyond this page, you agree to abide by the Privacy Policy / Your California Privacy Rights and Terms of Use. Even while on maternity leave, shes locked into games every single night, which now she gets to do with her son by her side. 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). The second category of referees are the Entry-level NBA referees. Women's Champ Week predictions: Which teams will win the auto bids in all 32 conferences? Katie Patterson. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting. Those changes include separate dedicated locker rooms for women officials. She dedicated herself completely to the game, but also to earning respect just like anyone else. They were audible conversations for Palmer and Kantner, and sometimes more. Ability to recognize and appropriately manage shifts in game conditions (intensity, emotions . Strides are being made, even if we're still talking about small percentages of the overall population and more work is clearly needed. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. All rights reserved. Earn a high school diploma. The NBA's roster of female referees continues to grow. Subscribe to get the Referee.com Review every week plus periodic free training and special offers on the sports you officiate. In this particular business, thats one of the loftiest goals of diversity: Sameness. With the . They congratulated me for getting hired and being in the WNBA, I was like, thats crazy because I was watching you guys when I was 12 years old and now were working together.. In recent years there has been a massive uptick in female referees in the NBA. WNBA. "She really did an awesome job of reaching out to us and saying, 'Hey, I really want to start this group. Flores has spent nine seasons in the G League and 10 in the WNBA, and is also an accomplished women's college referee with . Palmer and Kantner smashed this barrier; those who came after them are trying to stomp on its remains. Its not uncommon, to be honest with you, Schroeder said with a laugh. She is the leagues longest-tenured woman official. 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. And to this day, I dont think people know that thats actually a thing.. $18K. "[The NBA] worked closely with me to make sure that the locker room was where I needed it to be as a nursing mother," Holtkamp-Sterling said. NEW YORK - NBA G League referees Cheryl Flores, Robert Hussey, Matt Kallio and Dannica Mosher have been promoted to full-time NBA staff officials for the 2022-23 season . . 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. (Prior to entering the league, Palmer worked as a referee in NCAA Division I women's basketball.) Listed is the 2021 WNBA roster of officials, along with their number. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The entry-level referees are paid around $600 per match. 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. McCutchen said the league has no data indicating referees are challenged more or less based on gender. Please logout and login again. In the N.B.A., four of the 70 full-time officials last season were women, the league said. 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. We [officials] are human, too. As a proud Black and LGBTQ woman, Palmer especially was a barrier-breaker in more ways than one. If you've ever wondered why Finals games seem like they're officiated by many of the same people year after year, it's because those are senior-level referees. And as McCutchen points out, 42% of G League referees are women. 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. 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.". That doesn't bother me, because we're all just referees and we have to be able to co-mingle. Palmer broke barriers in 1997 when she became the first female to referee an NBA game. Your login session has expired. SHARE. Individual game assignments for referees are posted at NBA.com/official at approximately 9 a.m. Thats where she remembers watching Candace Parker with Tennessee, and Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird with UConn. To its credit, the NBA hasn't been satisfied at simply hitting numerical targets for the sake of appearance -- although no one's saying it's been perfect, either. Probably. The salary slab of referees is decided as per their experience. Flores and Mosher earned promotions from the G League level, as did another pair of new hires Matt Kallio, who becomes the NBAs first international full-time official, and Robert Hussey. None of it bothered me. NBA.com is part of Warner Media, LLCs Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network, *Translations are limited to select pages, Miller making history as female G League GM, Women referees among latest called up to work games, Female officials Q&A Part 1: Path to the NBA, Female officials Q&A Part 2: Womens empowerment, Ex-NBA player Morrow facing assault charges, Durant passes 'Big O' for 13th in career points, NBA Fantasy: Under-the-radar additions for playoffs, Magic's Isaac (torn adductor) out for rest of season, Triple-double win streak shows Jokic dominance, NBA DFS Picks: Yahoo plays and strategy for March 3. The Australian was the first female to officiate the A-League series in 2015. Just as meaningful, though, is the broader support structure that's been created. WNBA 2021: Points of Education (Part 1) Now in her third NBA season, she feels this is a whole new grind in comparison to her journey but there is no place else she would rather be. The NBA's roster of female referees continues to grow. She also has five years of high school officiating experience in her home state. Not only that, but the grind to becoming a professional referee requires true dedication. The first female NBA referees Chuck Solomon/Getty Images. N BA commissioner Adam Silver wants more female referees in the NBA. 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. Depending on experience and how far into the playoffs they're working, officials can reportedly receive a per game bonus of anywhere between $800 to $5,000. 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 Everything we send is officiating specific because that's all we do. 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. Within several years, for the 2014-15 season, Holtkamp-Sterling would become the first woman hired as a full-time NBA official in nearly two decades. She struggled at times with the constant demands from those she encountered, both stated and implied, to justify herself or explain her pursuit of success in a heavily male-dominated field. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Young women shouldn't have to look at officiating, or so many other traditionally male-dominated professions, as rarified air for only the chosen few. The NBA's roster of female referees continues to grow. Moyer-Gleich recounts similar experiences. She served as a WNBA referee in 2018. In 1997, Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner became the first women to serve as referees in the NBA. A native of Cleveland, a city she describes as being filled with underdog energy and soul, her family relocated to the suburbs where Jelks, like many teenagers, yearned to fit in among her peers. 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. Referees: Katie Lukanich, Darren Krzesnik, Kyle Bacon. "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. I would love for you guys to be a part of it.' Boger, 67, joined the NFL in 2004 as a line judge. Collect, curate and comment on your files. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. And not everyone was comfortable. Im sure we would have been open to it, said Sam Perkins, forward/center who played for four teams from 1984 to 2001 and is now the treasurer for the National Basketball Retired Players Association. 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. It was early in Holtkamp-Sterling's young basketball officiating career, years before she'd ascend to the NBA level. 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. Mosher has . You really dont know until you sit down and read a rule book, says Moyer-Gleich. I wanted to do as many games as I could to prepare me to work in the NBA. Cheryl Flores and Dannica Mosher have been promoted to the level of full-time staff officials, the NBA said Thursday. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Then, five years later, there was one: Palmer. Back then, Palmer hardly had time to consider the significance of her accomplishment. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. After a successful college career, she began working her way up as an official. Holtkamp, Moyer-Gleich, and Sago were the only three female referees that were active in the NBA for the 2018 season. Referee Michael Oliver, however, waved play on and the VAR, Darren England, saw no reason to ask him to look again at his decision. The NBAs roster of female referees continues to grow. Moyer-Gleich officiated three seasons in the NBA G League, including the 2018 playoffs. For female basketball referees, men's college basketball may be the bleakest of frontiers. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. I dont notice whether coaches are hands off. I havent seen any [bullying]. . Danielle Scott decided to join the family business. copyright 2023 National Basketball Referees Association. 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. (See the clip below.) All parties involved can talk about themes like equality until they're blue in the face, but the truest mark of that state is actually when it's not a constant discussion topic. More than anything, it's that normalcy that today's women NBA referees aspire to. As of last season, 11 different women were employed in assistant coaching positions around the NBA. 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. NBA officials Simone Jelks (left) and Ashley Moyer-Gleich working a game together in Chicago. $425. 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. @BrooklynNets at @celtics She becomes the sixth woman on the current staff, joining Lauren Holtkamp-Sterling, Ashley Moyer-Gleich, Simone . And if it were male officials, you wouldnt call them sensitive.. However, her journey was slightly different from some of her female counterparts. I think when I got hired, that had its own sort of significance and same for all the women after me. Shop NEW Women Hooping summer apparel: http://www.womenhooping.com/Support the channel through PAYPAL: paypal.me/womenhoopingORPlay as WNBA players/teams in . RotoWire considers the best player values in Yahoo fantasy leagues for Friday's 10-game slate. So my predecessors recognized this and put those seeds into the G League.