Following FIBA releasing an international Table Official qualification several years ago, it had been highlighted that there was a need to bridge the gap between the Level 3 Award, and the FIBA qualification. Basketball England are pleased to announce that we are now launching a Level 4 Award for Table Officials; bringing parity between the Refereeing and Table Officiating Pathway.
During this initial season, the pool of 24 BBL Table Officials, who do not hold the FIBA qualification, will enter the Level 4 programme in a pilot scheme, should they choose to do so. Applications will be made available on 12 November, with a deadline to return of 12 December.
10 Table Official Coaches have been identified and recruited, each having 2-3 table officials to work with, to coach them throughout the second half of the 2018/19 season.
Observations will be made of the 24 potential candidates over the second half of the season, and a decision will be made regarding their Level 4 Award by May 2019.
Alongside the pilot system, we will also be releasing applications for the 2019/20 season. Level 3 Table Officials with two or more years experience in the NBL are eligible apply. The second half of this current season will then be used as a 'vetting' period, to assess whether the official is ready for the Level 4 qualification, with the actual course then running for the full 2019/20 season. Again, applications for this will be released on the 12 November.
Simon Unsworth, Basketball England Delivery Manager (Infrastructure), had this to say about the launch of the new qualification, "This is a very exciting time with many new developments for all of our officiating courses. There has been this gap in the pathway for a while, especially for table officials operating at NBL level who aspire to officiate the top British leagues and beyond. With a transparent process being introduced, table officials across the country have a real chance to test themselves and reach their maximum potential."
Basketball England would like to take this opportunity to recognise the hard work put in by Janine Timms and Mark Patton in the set up of this qualification.
