RONAN, MT — This weekend in Ronan, the Boys & Girls Club hosted a volunteer referee training clinic to help address the need for basketball officials.
Volunteers learned the basics of officiating basketball games. Despite recent challenges facing referees, many continue to officiate for one simple reason: their love of the game.
"We're seeing a lot less officials come out," said Rich Janssen, a member of the Montana Officials Association who spent his Saturday training volunteers how to call a fair game. He hopes this encourages others to step up.
"It was great opportunity for parents or even coaches who may not know a lot about officiating or the rules of basketball to come and learn," Janssen said.
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The free youth basketball training was designed to help local teams, but it also highlights Montana's growing referee shortage. Recent incidents across the state of poor sportsmanship toward officials are making it harder to recruit new referees.
"I mean unfortunately we've seen a lot of changes going back 30 years and we're seeing some unruly behavior from fans, from AAU to the pro-level so that's just unfortunate," Janssen said.
Janssen worked with Ronan Boys and Girls Club basketball coordinators to put together the free training clinic. With so few officials available this season, volunteers and parents like Ruth Tuasivi have juggled more than one role.
"I was coaching and reffing at the same time so right after my teens game I just went and filled in the gaps," Tuasivi said.
Tuasivi said this training helped her learn that when making calls in a game, it's important for all players, coaches and viewers to see the decision clearly.
"It is important that the supporters see that these are not professional referees it's developmental program where we are developing new things, I never reffed in my life but coming here to learn little bits and pieces helps me to learn new skills," Tuasivi said.
Seasoned officials like Janssen say while it's a challenging job, they keep coming back because they love watching the kids succeed on the court.
"We don't want to blow our whistle, we want to see the game flow, we want to see the kids enjoying it and doing good at it, and if they're younger getting better and all we're doing as officials is calling the rules of basketball that's it," Janssen said.
The Ronan Boys and Girls Club hopes to host more clinics in the future.
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