On the weekend of 15th and 16th March, FUBA organized successful refresher courses for Coaches, Referees, and Table officials to help come together and try to understand the rules better and their application.
The President of the Uganda Basketball Referees Association, David Senfuma, was very happy about this course and talked about its importance.
“I believe in a sport like basketball which is dynamic, refreshers are very important and I believe going into the new season, this is very valuable” he said.
“A lot of things have been learnt and lots of new faces are getting on board” he added.
On Saturday, the Coaches had their session and the Referees were given an opportunity to present and try to explain to the managers and coaches why they make certain decisions.
David stressed the importance of having referees and coaches all working together.
“Their should be a be cordial relationship between the referees’ and coaches’ bodies. It helps growth on both ends”
The Vice President FUBA Technical Mr. Baker Kyambadde shared what this refresher was about and how coaches and referees can be able to appreciate each other’s work.
“For the first time, we have had a session of coaches, and referees (together) and we’ve been able to share ideas.
The more the managers and coaches understand the rule book, it’s interpretation and implementation, the more they appreciate where the referees come from.
The more the referees understand the pain that coaches get when they see things, they get to know when to either make a call or no call and how to interpret the rule as well” he said.
“We want to see the quality of officiating take place (go up)” he added.
Part of the things that we expect to see in the new NBL season is the potential suspension of referees over continuous ‘poor’ performance and the potential suspension of coaches for unacceptable behavior while on the sidelines.
Mr Baker stressed the importance of improvement in officiation as they will add assessors who will check the quality of officiation.
Finally, he urged the fans to nor just be emotional but try and understand the rules and their application.
“I’d love the fans to not just be emotional but inquire from the players, and coaches.
We ask coaches to pass on the skills and knowledge (learned) to them. However, players act as if everything is biased but if you are ignorant, take responsibility and learn the process”
The NBL tips-off on Friday 21st at Lugogo with Namuwongo Blazers against City Oilers while JKL Lady Dolphins lock horns with JT Lady Jaguars in opener.
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