Over the past three years basketball playing participation in Queensland has grown by 79.2%; to ensure that the sport can cater for this growth, Basketball Queensland has launched its initial phase of investment into growing and developing its base of match officials.

BQ Chief Executive Officer, Joshua Pascoe, recognises the need to support this growth through investment.

“We recognise that with tremendous growth requires growth in the infrastructure to support it. We have a strong focus on growing the number of officials to make sure our game can continue to operate into the future,” said Joshua.

South Referee Development Officer

This investment has begun with the appointment of Cameron Praeger as BQ’s new Referee Development Officer for South-East Queensland (SEQ).

Cameron Praeger brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in the referee space. He began his journey in 2004, as club referee before rising through the ranks to officiate at both a state and national level.

“I want to give back and improve the referee education that sometimes lacked when I was going through. For me it’s about investing time into our associations to help them build and develop their young referees,” said Cameron.

BQ’s Technical Officials Development Manager, Alex McEwan, says Praeger is the first of many new appointments in the referee space.

“Cam plays a major role in our plans moving forward. His experience and long-standing involvement in the game makes him a great asset to the BQ team,” said Alex.

North Referee Development Officer

BQ has since appointed Elliot Czerwinski, as the Referee Development Officer for North Queensland.

Elliot has held positions with BQ previously as the Referee Support Coordinator but is now moving North and will be based in Townsville. His new role will aim to assist the Northern and more regional associations in providing training and pathways for game officials.

Pathways and Opportunities

In addition to these two new positions, BQ has begun the development of expanded pathway opportunities for referees to retain and upskill young officials.

The State Referee Development Program (SRDP) recently completed a weekend-long intensive training camp which gave 15 officials the opportunity to learn and witness top level NBL1 referees.

More programs and referee pathway opportunities will continue to be created in line with this new organisational focus. BQ’s Alex McEwan, is excited for the future and growth of the game.

“The development of referees has been underfunded for a long time, so it great that we’re investing in the space now, in line with the growth of the game,” said Alex.

BQ have recognised that for basketball to continue growing there are necessary investments that need to be made in the game officials that support it. The aim of this investment and effort is to increase the referee intake level at each association and improve the quality of refereeing across the state.

Are you interested to become a referee? Click here