2011-12 Pre-Season Referee Seminar Report

Thirty referees and Assessors gathered at the basketballscotland 2011-12 Pre-season Referee Seminar, which took place on Saturday 27th August 2011, at The Peak/Forthbank Stadium in Stirling Sports Village.

Organised and delivered by the basketballscotland Officials Commission, the rules officianados of all ages got together to have their annual clinic on FIBA Rules, mechanics, game management. It is an opportunity for referees to get themselves motivated for the up coming season whilst learning from FIBA Europe teaching materials and methods.

Special guest, Johnny Jacobs, the FIBA Instructor from Belgium, made two special presentations. One on floor about mechanics and positioning and the other in the classroom on “FIBAxiomas”, a series of triggers and expressions designed to motivate, encourage self-development and improve performance on court. Both presentations were excellent and very well received by the Scottish referees in attendance and basketballscotland would like to thank FIBA Europe for assisting with Johnny’s visit to Scotland.

Johnny Jacobs, National Instructor for Belgium, delivers his "FIBAxiomas" presentation to the Scottish Referee Delegates at the 2011-12 Pre-Season Seminar in Stirling.

The referees also had the chance to run the 20 metre bleep test and sit the obligatory rules test.

Assessor and National League Referee Tom Stobo then made a presentation on criteria using a DVD featuring clips taken from Scottish National League games, an excellent resource which was made available with notes to all those referees attending. We are also grateful to John Nicol, dedicated cameraman extrordinaire, for making the game DVDs and high quality footage available to assist with the ongoing development of Scottish officiating.

Scottish FIBA National Instructor and OC member, Chris Dodds, received very positive feedback from delegates and commented ”Everyone of the referees here regardless of age and experience have learned something new, and were very impressed with Johnny Jacobs presentations and teaching style. It has been a very worthwhile day, ensuring our referee group move towards the new season better trained and better informed of the challenges ahead of them on Scottish basketball courts.”

The Seminar was organised and delivered by the basketballscotland Referees Committee, known as the Officials Commission or “OC”. The OC Chair, Eddie McKinley, wrapped up the day by thanking all those who had attended, all the OC members for their efforts during the season and in delivering the seminar and finally a thank you to Johnny Jacobs for giving up his time and visiting us from Belgium.

Eddie also congratulated Graham Shaw of Edinburgh, an OC member, on his achievement of successfully becoming a FIBA International Referee with effect from February 2011.

To conclude, Chris Dodds presented Johnny Jacobs with a small momento of his visit to Stirling with the best wishes of basketballscotland, the OC and all Scottish Referees.

The date for the Mid-Season Referee Seminar was confirmed as Sunday 29th January 2012 (at a venue to be announced). No National League games will take place that day and all active referees are asked to keep their diaries free that day in order to attend.