Hawks celebrate respect for referees

The Illawarra Hawks are taking their support of referee respect to another level in Round 10, and will host a ‘Referee Respect Initiative’ in tandem with the Illawarra Basketball Association.

NBL CEO David Stevenson recently expressed his desire to crack down on the abuse of referees, in a move which has already seen Breakers head coach Mody Maor ejected from a game due to comments made towards the officials at half time in Round 9.

A key pillar of the initiative is to support grassroots referees and increase numbers at the community level.

Veteran NBL referee Michael Aylen says he hopes to see a change in an emerging trend of referee abuse within the game.

“It’s very difficult for young kids to get into the sport and stay in the sport,” Aylen told The Illawarra Mercury.

“If you want to have younger referees be in a comfortable, safe environment to referee and grow and explore the game of basketball, I think this is a great initiative to help do that.

“I think in any form of life it’s ‘do unto others as you would have done to you’. If you want me to speak to you in a courteous manner, if you’ve got an issue, you need to come to me or the referee at the time with respect and ask the question in an appropriate manner.

“Don’t be in my face, don’t be abusive.

“The other aspect is if you ask a question of a referee, be prepared for an answer you may not like. You’ve asked the question, I’ve given you an honest answer. You have to respect that.

“It’s about two-way respect.”

Part of the initiative will see 11 emerging referees be taken through a gameday routine ahead of Friday’s clash between Illawarra and Perth.

Read the full story here >> Hawks launch initiative with Illawarra Basketball and NBL to prevent ref abuse.