In a groundbreaking initiative aimed at fostering diversity and celebrating the accomplishments of female technical officials, Basketball NSW hosted its first-ever Female Officiating Conference at The Locker Room in Sydney Olympic Park. The event, held on Saturday the 2nd of December, brought together registered female officials aged 13 and above for an engaging and interactive experience, which was made possible by funding from the NSW Office of Sport ‘Her Sport Her Way’ grant.
The day was a great success, filled with guest speakers, panels and discussion groups, as well as some fun networking and photobooth moments in between. BNSW would like to give a massive thank you to all the female officials that attended and partook in the activities, as well as all the exciting guest speakers and panellists that gave incredible insight into their area of expertise and their officiating journeys.
The Female Officiating Conference in its inaugural year was the brainchild of the Female Officiating Leadership Team; Caitlin Grove, Courtney Smith, Crystal Dupuche, Gemma O’Grady, Kaitlyn Nate, Molly Manns, Rachel Hogan, Rylee Bowles, Sarah Fahey and Zara Baldwin, whose hard work and dedication was shown through the success of the event.
Basketball NSW, Head of Technical Officials, Steve Clark was very proud of the outcome of the Conference.
“It was touching to see all the passion in the room. Most of the ladies became emotional at one point or another, and it goes to show the love of the game that officials have, which is often overlooked in sport,” said Clark.
“The success of the Conference was due to the sheer eagerness and excitement displayed by every person in the room, and it was visible to all, even the guest speakers spoke highly of the female officials we have in our basketball community.”
The day began with an Acknowledgement of Country, given by Michelle Cosier, followed by the 2023 Female Officiating Awards presentation during the luncheon, which were created by the Leadership Team. Congratulations to the following recipients!
- The Emerging Country Female Official Award – Katelyn Rawlinson
- The Rising Star Award – Holly Powell
- The Inspirational Refereeing Achievement Award – Jayna Bonney
- The Empowerment Through Officiating Award – Haylee Cole
- The Scoretable Talent Award – Suzanne Goodman
- The Technical Mastery Award – Michelle Nicholas
- The Statistician Excellence Award – Trish Nicholls
- The All Round Woman Award – Riannan De La Torre
- The Leadership in Officiating Award – Debbie Keirs
- The Country Boot Award – Carol Rickard
After the awards ceremony, the guest speakers took to the stage for a Q&A moderated by Steve Clark, starting with Karra-Lee Nolan; a PDHPE High School teacher and Rugby League Referee, who set many first’s for a female official in a male dominated sport. She was the first female to be appointed to a first-grade men’s Grand Final in NSW Country League, and was awarded the prestigious NSW Senior Referee of the Year title in 2019. She has since gone on to officiate at the Festival of World Cups, International 9’s tournament in Samoa, Women’s State of Origin, NRLW Grand Final in 2019, NSWRL Grand Final in 2020, and is a NSWRL High Performance squad member.
Karra-Lee demonstrated the power of resilience, having experienced knockbacks and lack of opportunity purely due to gender, but was able to rise above it due to sheer determination, and through her success, pave the way for female officials in Rugby League. Karra-Lee attributes her accomplishments to the people she has around her, and reminded all to “keep fighting strong and lean on the people you have around you.” The attendees were visibly in awe as they listened to her journey and the achievements that came (and are yet to come!) from her officiating experience.
The second guest speaker was Chloe Dalton OAM, a professional Rugby Union player, basketballer, and AFLW player; currently playing for the GWS Giants. She represented Australia in Rugby Sevens and won a gold medal as a member of the Women’s team at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Chloe is also a qualified physiotherapist, the author of the book ‘Girls Don’t Play Sport,’ as well as the founder of The Female Athlete Project – a movement championing females in sport and sharing their stories.
With a decorated career, Chloe spoke through the different experiences of different codes, especially the touching moment that she won the gold medal with her teammates, which was made even more special by the support of her friends and family in the stands.
Remembering this moment, Chloe said “For me it was just a cool moment to be able to say thank you to them for actually believing in me and backing me in this crazy idea.”
“Recognising that what you do, and the way you all contribute, is about so much more than stepping out onto the court or stepping onto the field, there’s so many people that ride that journey with you, and sport is so powerful because it can bring people high, and bring people a lot of joy, and it was really special to have that moment of joy with them.”
All the attendees then received a copy of Chloe’s book, and were treated to a book signing, where they were all able to speak to her and take a picture as she signed every person’s copy.
The first panel was then underway, all about pathways for officials in basketball starring Jayna Bonney, Riannan De La Torre, Rylee Bowles, Crystal Dupuche and Michelle Cosier. Hosted by Kaitlyn Neate and Molly Manns, the panel had very experienced and talented women who were keen to share their stories; from the beginning of the national pathway to returnees, NBL1 to FIBA 3X3, and even an ex-WNBL players, these women provided incredible insight into their individual journeys as they have risen up to become leaders in their craft.
This followed into the second panel, ‘Females that have led the way,’ featuring technical officials that have been trailblazers in their field and hold many distinct roles in the basketball community. Led by Courtney Smith and Gemma O’Grady with Lauretta Claus, Trish Nicholls and Alison Ross on the panel, who paved the way for not only females, but at times international basketball, in the statistics side of officiating.
Having to create the definitions for the stats manual in the lead-up to the 1994 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, Lauretta said that “Really it is the women that are organised…we create the documents…and we’re prepared to put ourselves out there and say this is what we should be doing and this is how it should be done, and the rest of the world has copied.”
Caitlin Grove and Rachel Hogan then led the Conference through a working group focusing on resilience and wellbeing, a theme central to the day through all the speakers. Not only did they assist in unpacking the words and what they entail, they also instilled some strategies to manage wellbeing and how to bounce back when times are hard.
The final presentation of the day was given by Riannan De La Torre, called ‘Ref/Life Balance.’ As a current FIBA official, a business owner who started her own foundation and a mother to a two-year old, the qualified Riannan acknowledged that officiating is only one component of a person’s identity, and gave her experience and advice on how to juggle life commitments, achieve all-time highs in basketball and still be successful in other avenues of life.
The day concluded with all attendees mingling as new friendships formed, and an air of inspiration and motivation filled the room. The success of this milestone inaugural Conference sets the stage for future events dedicated to empowering and uplifting female technical officials. Every person who attended undoubtedly has taken learnings which they can apply to their officiating, as well as everyday life.
Click HERE to see some photos of the day, and click HERE to watch the videos from the day.
If you are interested in learning more about becoming a Technical Official in basketball, please click HERE.