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Posted On February 16, 2017

SPBA REFEREE | Achieving on a National Scale

One member of Southern Peninsula Basketball Association (SPBA) is proving that you do not have to be a player or coach to participate in basketball at a national level. Bianca Vernon, a senior referee at SPBA is currently officiating at the U20 Australian National Championships which are being held in Bendigo this week.IMG_0423

Bianca has been officiating at Southern Peninsula since the age of 17. Murray Sydenham (SPBA Referee Advisor) commented “Bianca came to the A grade school as a typical B grade ref – she’d keep watching the ball, calling all the fouls on defence,  watching the the ball swish through the hoop on shots while fouls were happening under the ring. But she listened, applied and grew so much from that point onwards – everything we said she used, and she went from B grade to A grade in a flash.”

Throughout Bianca’s officiating career she started at domestic level, then moved on to Basketball Victoria Country Championships. From here Bianca was then selected for events such as the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup which then built the pathway to be selected for national championships.

“Bianca has been fantastic around the association and including taking up many off court roles in the referee program. Despite having a difficult work roster as a paramedic, Bianca has kept building on her skills as a referee. She is a great role model, especially for young females in the association.” said Sydenham.

This achievement builds on Bianca’s past achievements on a national scale:

  • National Junior Classic Referee – 2013
    • U12 Boys Gold Medal Game Referee
  • National Junior Classic Referee – 2015
    • U18 Women’s Gold Medal Game Referee
  • National Junior Classic Referee -2016
    • U18 Men’s Gold Medal Game Referee
  • U16 National Championships Referee – 2014
  • U16 National Championships Referee – 2015
    • Women’s Bronze Medal Game Referee
  • U18 National Championships Referee – 2016
    • Men’s Gold Medal Game Referee
  • U20 National Championships Referee – 2017

When asked about her goals and ambitions as a referee Bianca said “My goal is to be selected to the SEABL panel in the next two years. Then to work towards progressing to the WNBL panel.”

You can start officiating at any age, we are keen to take on and educate adults on how to officiate. Shifts are flexible, once graded you tell us the days and times you want to ref. You must be at least in year 7 to do the C grade school and start refereeing at SPBA.
For more information on the officiating at SPBA, please contact bwhite@sharksbasketball.com.au.

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