JABA president lauds Mexico-bound official
Published:Monday | November 25, 2024 | 12:09 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
PRESIDENT OF the Jamaica Basketball Association (JABA) Paulton Gordon is hailing the selection of local referee Ricardo Hayles to be part of the officiating crew for the upcoming CentroBasket Under-15 Championship in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, from December 4-8.
According to Gordon, Hayles is among the best in the region.
“He’s been a stalwart as it relates to basketball officiating for the last decade. Therefore, it comes as no surprise when he was invited to be part of the tournament, and at this level, he’s one of the top regional officials,” he stated.
In October, JABA hosted a referees’ coaching clinic in a bid to increase the talent pool of local officials and to bring officials up to speed with changes at the FIBA level.
Gordon further stated that increasing the number of certified officials in a number of areas is a priority.
“We are trying to grow that area. Another area that we’re trying to grow is the table officials. We have over 25 table officials that are certified as we’re trying to grow all the pillars in basketball,” said Gordon.
Gordon explained that he is also focusing on increasing the number of on-court official.
“We certainly don’t have enough at this time. We have opened dialogue with GC Foster College to try and see if some of their students, who are not interested in the actual playing of the game, would be interested in officiating. That’s something we certainly have on our calendar, and prior to Alf Remekie’s passing, he had sessions with interested individuals, introducing them to officiating, and some were used in the community leagues. We want to build a cadre of competent persons who are interested in going all the way to the top,” he said.
Gordon shared that the referees’ committee has shown great interest in expanding its knowledge of the sport, which augurs well for the growth in the number of top-quality officials coming out of Jamaica.
“The referees’ committee is working closely with us to see how best we can position persons to get involved as this is something we hope to build on over the next few months,” said.