The Wanneroo Basketball Association is pleased to announce Meneghello Industrial Group as the naming rights partner of the WBA Referee Department.
In a significant step for the development of the referees, this partnership will allow the WBA to continue to provide education sessions and resources, as well as additional pathways and accreditation opportunities for our referees. Later this year, the WBA will launch the “Wolves Referee Development Program” (WRDP), which aims to increase development opportunities for referees to progress from domestic to WABL and provide more specific training to assist referees in achieving a higher level of accreditation.
General Manager of Meneghello, Stephen Wood, said: “At Meneghello, we are proud to support what we believe is an essential part of the game — the officials. Referees ensure that the game is played with fairness, integrity, and respect. We appreciate that without the hard-working referees, the game simply could not go ahead. When we support our officials, we support the future of our club”.
WBA CEO Andrew Summerville added: “We first invested in a Referee Coordinator in 2022 and have seen a steady and gradual improvement in both the quantity and quality of our officials ever since. When you play over 9,000 games of basketball a year, it takes a lot of referees to ensure those games go ahead. It is a challenging job, and like our playing membership, our referee cohort is predominantly children.
We need to keep the referees involved for as long as possible. Like playing, it takes years to become a good referee, and if the retention rate is low due to abuse and criticism from players, coaches and spectators, then we physically can’t keep the referees involved long enough for them to improve. We then must bring in a greater number of new, less experienced referees who may not be ready just yet, and unfortunately, the cycle continues.
This partnership with Meneghello Industrial Group allows us to implement new programs that will aim to keep our more experienced referees engaged for longer and therefore improve their skills”.
During this season, there will be a rollout of new referee shirts proudly displaying the Meneghello logo. Stay tuned for more information about the WRDP and other referee development opportunities.
If you are interested in becoming a referee, please complete the expression of interest form on our website, found here. The WBA will also be holding an Association Beginner Referee Course at the start of each school term, which will be announced on our social media.