Long-time Werribee Basketball Association referee Allison Scholey has been recognised with Basketball Victoria’s Marg Gorman female domestic senior referee of the year award.
Scholey has dedicated the best part of 30 years to refereeing, both on the court and in the background.
This award is a much-deserved honour for an individual who has put so much time and effort into making the game of basketball better.
“I was very honoured to be thought of and considered,” Scholey said. “When I won the award, I was extremely surprised.
“I’ve been around a long time doing bits and pieces, but you never expect to be recognised.”
Scholey is passionate about the game of basketball and the important role that referees play to ensure it is played fairly.
The 48-year-old’s knowledge and experience makes her a popular choice of referee among players.
“The biggest reward I get is when I turn up to a court to referee a game and the players go ‘good, we’ve got you’ and you think you’re doing something right,” Scholey said.
“There are probably some of the players who might think ‘on no, we’ve got her’, but a lot of them are happy to see me and when I get the positive feedback it keeps me going.
“I’m consistent and that’s the most important.”
Scholey began refereeing at the age of 18 to earn money for a holiday.
She played basketball as a teenager, but was better at officiating, and getting paid to exercise was a nice perk to being a referee.
For Scholey, the best part of refereeing is the final two minutes of a close match.
“The adrenalin definitely kicks in,” she said. “You’re like, ‘now we’ve got a ball game’.
“You’ve got to really be switched on, so that you don’t give anyone the poor end of the stick.
“At the end of the day, I don’t care who wins and loses, you just want everyone to give their best.”
This award was not only for Scholey’s decision-making on the court, but also for her work as the referee’s coach. She spends countless hours working with the next generation of referees.
There is more than 200 referees at Werribee, some will follow in Scholey’s footsteps and dedicate their sporting careers to Werribee, while others might even go on to referee in the NBL and WNBL
“As a referee coach, there’s a test I have to complete through Basketball Victoria each year,” she said. “We also do rule tests for all our referees to help us keep up to date with our rule knowledge.
“It’s not like we’re going on court and making things up, we do training and we do education sessions throughout the year as well.”
