The NBA's roster of female referees continues to grow. :-). With the second half of the 2021-22 season well underway, shes now starting to develop those relationships as she gets more reps across the league. Mosher has . Because the Women's National Basketball Association is less successful than the NBA and has a shorter season, WNBA officials earn significantly less than NBA officials. While that was the most overtly negative experience Holtkamp-Sterling recalls from her career, it wasn't the only one. Cheryl Flores and Dannica Mosher have been promoted to the level of full-time staff officials, the NBA said Thursday. "This isn't, 'Let's go out and do social work,'" Monty McCutchen, NBA's vice president of referee development and training, said. The current group of eight full-timers all did games, as did Clare Aubry, ShaRae Mitchell, Blanca Burns and Jenna Reneau. These officials begin with a salary of $250,000 as first-year referees. Lauren Holtkamp-Sterling is the NBAs longest-tenured female official. It was early in Holtkamp-Sterling's young basketball officiating career, years before she'd ascend to the NBA level. Its not based on your gender, race or ethnicity.. "Her advice is always authentic.". While Palmer and Kantner are no longer working for the NBA, their legacies live on. Today, she is best known for the memes that surfaced after an encounter she had with Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic. Listed is the 2021 WNBA roster of officials, along with their number. Individual game assignments for referees are posted at NBA.com/official at approximately 9 a.m. To order copies of The Pennsylvania native has four years of collegiate officiating experience, with stints in the ACC, Atlantic 10, Patriot League and Ivy League, among other conferences. Moyer-Gleich recounts similar experiences. It stuck for good, always as a term of endearment. The league is ahead of its peers here, although progress must be viewed relatively. And 25 of the 63 referees in the G-League are women. College basketball referees for D-1 men's NCAA games make over $2,000 per game and they can work over 70 games per season, so their annual salary for working the NCAA season is approximately $150,000 the same as an entry-level ref in the NBA. None of it bothered me. The NBA's roster of female referees continues to grow. In this particular business, thats one of the loftiest goals of diversity: Sameness. Referee, the worlds original sports officiating magazine, educates, challenges and inspires officials at all levels. Each game crew consists of three on-court officials and one on-site alternate. There's no jealousy here, no bitterness over an "easier" path faced by today's young women. Although she considers herself a basketball junkie, the former collegiate softball player is also a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan and follows the sport closely. In terms of explaining certain officiating calls during live games, Moyer-Gleich uses her past experience as a player to translate and articulate the rule book into basketball jargon that players and coaches will understand. ncaa home, women, post season history: men, women 2022-23 2021-22 2020-21 2019-20 2018-19 NCAA Women Referee Leaders. They were audible conversations for Palmer and Kantner, and sometimes more. . Inspiration was even easier to come by for Jenna Schroeder, 35, another former collegiate athlete who, like Holtkamp-Sterling, transitioned to the officiating side following college. Palmer and Kantner smashed this barrier; those who came after them are trying to stomp on its remains. The NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee has approved the 11 game officials, who will bring a combined experience of 63 Women's Final Four appearances, to officiate the three games . "Did I hear it? It was the first time that women officiated regular-season games in an all-male U.S. professional league. And Silver . "I just hope one day we can stop counting. NEW YORK - The WNBA today announced the 15 referees who have earned spots to serve as on-court and/or alternate officials in the WNBA Playoffs 2021 presented by Google.. Playoff officials are selected by the WNBA Referee Operations management team based on three specific criteria throughout the season: WNBA Referee Operations' graded rankings, play-calling accuracy and team feedback. rights reserved. Durant, a four-time scoring champion, now sets his sights on Hakeem Olajuwon in 12th place. As it turns out, there are three categories that NBA referees fall into. The article is made available for educational use by individuals. While the NBA continues to be at the forefront of providing more opportunities for women officials, other leagues such as the NFL and the American Hockey Association (the NHLs minor league affiliate) have taken strides in recent years with hiring their first women officials. "I always had that mentor, a role model on how to be successful in a male-dominated field," Schroeder said. Hussey has worked five G League seasons and two in the WNBA. Five women officials is a step up from one or two, but still represents a minuscule percentage of the league's 65 total referees. During the 2021-22 NFL season, the . . You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Her currency? Floyd Mayweather interested in buying NBA team, Blake Griffin trolled by YouTuber courtside. 2020. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Be the first one to comment on this story. Lauren Holtkamp-Sterling remembers feeling vulnerable, but not intimidated. WNBA 2019: Points of Education (Part 2) All five women said they'd absolutely recommend refereeing both men's and women's basketball to any young woman with the drive and dedication. Before joining the big-league ranks, Natalie Sago was a ref for the G-League and WNBA. After all, she could have stayed in women's basketball, where she was one of the top officials in the college world. I had absolutely no idea you could be a referee and make a living out of it. Professional basketball has broken world barriers by having star players from countless different countries and broken the gender barrier as well. Currently, there are six female referees who work NBA games, up from one, Lauren Holtkamp, seven years ago. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. However, her journey was slightly different from some of her female counterparts. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. "I see little girls sitting courtside, parents asking me to take a picture with their little daughter," Moyer-Gleich said. The NBA now has the most . Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. "She did it way before all of us, before the world we live in now that's all accepting," Moyer-Gleich said of Kantner. Young women shouldn't have to look at officiating, or so many other traditionally male-dominated professions, as rarified air for only the chosen few. Top 5 NBA female referees in the game today 1) Lauren Holtkamp . Referee, the world's original sports officiating magazine, educates, challenges and inspires officials at all levels. She etched her name into the history books as the first mother to officiate a league game. WNBA referee Kevin Fahy is facing criticism for his extravagant ejection of Chicago Sky center Astou Ndour. You can talk about the girl in the fifth row with the big ta-tas! Sago, 31, and Schroeder, 35, were two of the three people on the officiating crew . Conley was in the G League for seven seasons, Schwab for five and, like Scott, they also worked WNBA games this season. But Holtkamp-Sterling believes shes the one paying homage and praises Palmer and Kantner for breaking barriers as the first two women officials in the NBA. NCAA gymnastics 2023: Who has surprised this season? Within several years, for the 2014-15 season, Holtkamp-Sterling would become the first woman hired as a full-time NBA official in nearly two decades. Today, there are five full-time women referees in the NBA -- the most in the . In 2003, she was the main referee for the 2002-03 Women's DFB-Pokal final between 1. NEW YORK - NBA G League referees Cheryl Flores, Robert Hussey, Matt Kallio and Dannica Mosher have been promoted to full-time NBA staff officials for the 2022-23 season . Those who followed them still faced real challenges. I'm good, I'll tell you whether or not she's cute!' None attempt to discount their own burdens that they overcame. But now, in 2021-22, the NBA has six female referees on its full-time officiating staff, the most ever. As WWE's New Day would say, shame! Sago, Holtkamp-Sterling, Schroeder and Moyer-Gleich were all on-hand in Clearwater, Florida to celebrate Sago's 30th birthday a couple summers ago (Jelks wasn't yet a full-time official). According to Career Trend, WNBA referees earn a base salary of $180,000 per year. Mosher has four seasons of G League officiating experience, five seasons in the WNBA and worked both the G League Finals and the WNBA Finals last season. Palmer's focus was internal. WNBA 2019: Points of Education (Part 3), 2020 WNBA Inside the Rulebook: Block, Charge, WNBA 2020 Playoffs: Points of Education (Part 1), WNBA 2020 Playoffs: Points of Education (Part 2), 2019 WNBA Inside the Rulebook: Continuation. Referee Kevin Fahy on Sunday ejected Astou Ndour of the WNBA 's Chicago Sky after she appeared to accidentally make contact with his stomach as he walked into her. Women officials now make up 8% of the 75-member officiating staff as the league continues its focus on hiring the most talented and hardest-working referees in the business. The most recent estimations put NBA referees annual salaries between $180,000 and $550,000. They congratulated me for getting hired and being in the WNBA, I was like, thats crazy because I was watching you guys when I was 12 years old and now were working together.. A native of Cleveland, a city she describes as being filled with underdog energy and soul, her family relocated to the suburbs where Jelks, like many teenagers, yearned to fit in among her peers. She would love to see the MLB bring women into the umpire ranks, just as the NBA has demonstrated with its own officials throughout the years. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. Your login session has expired. Holtkamp reffed in the G-League for six years before eventually getting the call-up to the big stage. The NBA now has eight . "We are a very empowered group of women," Jelks said. Tramel: Referee Amy Bonner earns ultimate compliment in historic debut season in Big 12. (See the clip below.) Mosher has . WNBA 2020 Playoffs: Points of Education (Part 1) Female NBA Referees Are Becoming a Normal Part of the Game. Long before she was hired in the NBA, the Flint, Mich., native didnt know that refereeing could be a full-time job. Meet Lauren Holtkamp, Ashley Moyer-Gleich, Natalie Sago, and now Jenna Schroeder. She played in high school and college in Croatia and Puerto Rico before returning to the States and becoming a ref. Thirteen of the 31 referees in the WNBA are women. And as McCutchen points out, 42% of G League referees are women. Moyer-Gleich tells multiple stories of NBA security staff confusing her for a cheerleader or a referee's wife when she entered the building to officiate games; to varying degrees, her peers have similar experiences. In 1997, Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner became the first women . According to Career Trend, those who officiate WNBA games earn a salary of $180,000 per year to start. The ability to advance in this career is evident. I commend those women [in hockey] because first of all, you have to know how to skate, and I would be out there busting my butt trying to do that, Sago said with a laugh. In recent years there has been a massive uptick in female referees in the NBA. All we have to do is find the best referees and open our eyes to half of the population.. "Here we are in a very male-dominated space, and the league was very proactive to make sure I had what I needed.". But no one, not by a long shot, thinks the work is done. Its really satisfying to say, We dont have to go and search for women referees, said Monty McCutchen, the NBAs senior vice president, head of referee development and training. Her love for simply being on the basketball court fused with her desire to prove those naysayers wrong. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. She officiated games for the B-League, WNBA, Big East, and ACC during her journey to the top. Before we do, check out a compilation video of every technical foul handed out last season. | Subscribe to access all D1 ref data. I [grew up] admiring Allen Iverson because I felt like he was just so unapologetically himself, despite what society or what the basketball community thought of him, good or bad, says Jelks. . The Pennsylvania native has four years of collegiate officiating experience, with stints in the ACC, Atlantic 10, Patriot League and Ivy League, among other conferences. #24 Scott, #77 Lane, #17 Sterling WNBA 2020: Points of Education (Part 1) Flores has spent nine seasons in the G League and 10 in the WNBA, and is also an accomplished women's college referee with two Final Fours on her resume. Referee assignments are posted at approximately 9:00am ET each game day. (Prior to entering the league, Palmer worked as a referee in NCAA Division I women's basketball.) Tickets for the WNBA's first-ever preseason matchup in Canada featuring the Chicago Sky and the Minnesota Lynx go on sale Wednesday, March 8, on International Women's Day. Then, five years later, there was one: Palmer. After playing college basketball in Millersville, Pennsylvania, Ashley Moyer decided to pursue a career in officiating. copyright 2023 National Basketball Referees Association. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Today, Palmer counts men she worked with among her best friends. Jelks views Palmer as a key mentor in multiple ways. #NBA #NBAReferees twitter.com/i/web/status/1. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. Since Holtkamp-Sterling, four more women have been hired as full-time NBA referees. If they are working full then they are paid $250,000 per season. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting. Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. Our women officials give technical fouls at the same rate as anyone else., Said Williams: I hope one day well be able to look at them as officials instead of a lady official or a male official.. You really dont know until you sit down and read a rule book, says Moyer-Gleich. And not everyone was comfortable. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. With the . Five full-time women in officiating today eclipses the total of the NFL, MLB and NHL combined. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Players, Teams, Seasons, Leaders , . Schroeder's wife, Britta Anderson, was a pioneer in her own right: Back in 2011, with virtually no women in similar positions whatsoever, she was hired as the associate team physician for MLB's Detroit Tigers -- a role she still occupies today. We can look at data, say from the 2011-12 season, to get an .