Based on recent happenings on our local basketball scene, I feel obliged to share a few thoughts with members of the basketball fraternity. I felt strongly drawn to basketball officiating when I was still very young (I will not describe myself as an old person, anyway) and I willingly went to referee games and training sessions. Although quite a number of older players at the time thought I had the potential to become a good player, the coach of the only Tema-based team at the time never gave me the chance. Maybe that was why I felt drawn to officiating (I still am not too sure anyway). My calls and decisions were largely informed by what I had heard from players, coaches and followers of the game. After I started coaching basketball at Chemu Senior High School (where I taught English Language and Literature in English for some time) and subsequently joined the Refs Asso. around 2003, I realized most of the things I knew were wrong! I also realized there were no institutionalized referee education and training programs. So I took it upon myself to educate myself as well as try to infect my older colleagues with the same attitude. It has been a difficult journey but there is no doubt that I have grown as a referee (although some people will disagree). I remember not long after I joined the Refs Asso, Frank and I refereed a Police-CEPS (women) league game and after that game I felt too ashamed to come to Lebanon House for quite some time. I must admit it was a badly-officiated game. We were two novices who had been thrown into a tough game with very little or no preparation! After that game, I realized I had a lot to learn and thankfully, I have learnt a lot largely through combing everywhere for information and constantly pestering Iddrisu Gamel, an individual I have learnt a lot from. A few seasons later, I called a league game between Police and CEPS (women) with Nyansa and after the game Paapa of CEPS walked up to me and told me we had officiated the game very well. I remember I felt very good, particularly when the compliment came from one the referees’ biggest critics. On a few occasions some of my colleagues and I have received such compliments. But most of the time, it has only been threats and insults (I like to call them occupational hazards), and some of us have even been physically assaulted! The threats and insults I received on Friday 12 July 2013 when Nyansa and I refereed the Greater Accra League game between Police and Prisons will undoubtedly last me ten reincarnations! But have those who perpetually rain all the verbal abuse on us ever paused for a moment to ask themselves if they are really sure of the things they complain unceasingly about? Are they as informed as they think they are? Our officiating is not flawless and top-notch. Yes, it can be better than it currently is, but is it as bad as some of us coaches, players and fans are making it look? What is happening is that we have written off our refs, making it impossible for them to show what they capable of. I remember during the GHAPSA Games 2013 men’s basketball final, after a player of Accra Poly had committed three fouls within a space of a few minutes into the first quarter, he came up to me and said, “Atswaa Tema alliance ye bie!” meaning “This game is not about Tema alliance.” What other than prejudice and immaturity could have informed such a statement? The mere fact that I lived in Tema and about five of the Takoradi Poly players lived in Tema did not mean I wasn’t going to be fair and neutral. Sometime after the game, a player of Takoradi Poly described us on Rebound_gh as “useless referees”. (I must add that I gave that player a taste of what I’m capable of). We the refs are also seen as people who are in it to make money. For some of us it is purely the interest that keeps us going and sometimes we have to make up excuses at our workplaces (I hope my employer isn’t reading this) in order for us to be at match venues. We all (current refs as well) want to see new and younger refs, no doubt about that, but even they will need time and guidance to grow into fine refs. So let nobody assume that that the injection of a fresh crop of refs into the system will immediately solve the problem of “bad officiating”. Seriously, we all need education. It is unfortunate that there is a blatant display of total ignorance during matches, particularly by those who should know better. Let us not make a mockery of the attempt the Regional Asso. is making to ensure there is basketball activity in the Greater Accra Region. We need to stop personifying the saying “Empty barrels make the most noise!” I will be back with more food for thought.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 09:42:00 +0000
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