The NBA Africa Basketball Operations team, in collaboration with the Global Basketball Operations team and Referee Operations, introduced this pioneering youth development initiative that emphasizes the importance of referee education and training.
African basketball officiating was recently boosted when the inaugural Jr. NBA Referee Shadow Program was launched in South Africa. This first of its kind initiative was simultaneously launched in the Royal Bafokeng and Johannesburg Jr. NBA leagues.
The program has initially started with 24 participants: Six referees (12 in total), were selected from each league and they will each be shadowed by a player for a period of five weeks.
For the month and a half, the mentees will learn from their mentors by co-officiating games in their respective leagues. Each week will see them learning a different aspect of officiating, and potentially molding them into future basketball officials.
The different facets that the programs will initially focus on will be Positioning, Play Calling, Violations, and Game Management.
To launch the program, South Africa was graced with the guidance of Don Hudson, Senior G League Referee Performance and Development Advisor, Dawn Smyth, Head of International Youth Development, and Bryan Gamroth International Youth Development Advisor.
This program is yet another example of how the NBA is building capacity amongst youth and exposing them to opportunities throughout the entire basketball ecosystem.