HAWKESBURY District Basketball Association hopes to see one its members one day referee a National Basketball League match, and has hired a new coach to help with that.
Nick Varlet has joined the association and will mentor and coach some of the young referees at the association to get them to a high standard.
Refereeing, as Varlet, who is a long time referee can attest, is a thankless job.
Indeed, Varlet’s story of becoming a referee began with a complaint.
As a young player, he was unhappy with the calls he was getting and marched into the office of the head referee at his association, John Rearden, and demanded better results.
Rearden, who is now the NSW Basketball Referee Commissioner, said if Varlet thought he could do any better he could put on the striped referees shirt and have a go himself.
“I didn't back down, I took the challenge on,” he said.
Varlet accepted, and has gone on to referee at a high level, and now also coaches referees.
Varlet said Rearden showed him the ropes, and now he wanted to give back, and make sure the next generation of referees were prepared and up to scratch.
He will spend Saturdays and Wednesday nights at the Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium, coaching the young referees in the association.
“I am going to do is educate the kids. Week in week out, I will be going through what I expect from them,” he said.
“Whether it be during a local competition, or, once they are up to it, the elite level.
“I am also going to be their mentor. I will be coaching them to perform better.”
Varlet has refereed at the championship level, which is the league underneath the NBL.
He said being a referee was not easy, especially for young people.
He said it was his job to prepare the referees at the association to be competent at their local level, and hopefully rise through the ranks to eventually referee NBL games.
Association secretary Stacy O’Toole said they were very excited to have Varlet coach the junior referees.
