The All-Female MDP Camp experience was of great value to me. My
connection with other women in the community I found to be helpful and
wonderful. It created a peer support system that had some similar
experiences that are a direct result of being a woman in the
basketball officiating world. This isn't to say those experiences are
good or bad, just similar. My feeling is that having top-notch female
officials as clinicians and evaluators is a very powerful way of
attracting and keeping women in the officiating community. I know I
was very excited about the camp both before and after I attended. The
beauty of this camp, as I experienced it, was that I could be a
"typical" woman in an non-typical female environment and feel safe.
Not physically safe but emotionally safe. I could talk about my
frustrations and my discomforts and my goals and feel heard and valued
as an official, as a camper/student, as someone wanting to grow and
learn. The quality and experience of the evaluators and clinicians was
quite impressive, as was the caliber of the guest speakers. I very
much appreciated the pace of the camp. I had the floor time to
implement the suggestions I received and the down time to integrate
them in my head and body. I had the time to come back to myself and
ground (which for me is very important).
One thing in particular
worked very well for me and that was the 9:30 a.m. meeting times.
Fantastic. I had to time to socialize, sleep, eat and be present
mentally and physically. I didn't feel rushed and hurried and needing
to slop down a coffee to get to where I needed to go in the morning.
The end result for me was that I came home with what I wanted; an
opportunity to meet other committed women officials; an opportunity to
improve my on-court mechanics and game management and also get a sense
of how I was doing with my judgement on contact and game flow.
As an official having completed two years, and
just finished attending my 2nd camp, I cannot stress how important I
found it for my growth as a basketball referee. I highly recommend
that all officials should go to camp, not just for the education,
but for the social aspect and interplay with other officials, both
highly-skilled (the staff), and those just beginning or early in
their careers. I will definitely go again.
If you want to improve your officiating then
you MUST attend a camp run by Bruce Covert and his expert staff. Not
only is it a way to "move up" the ladder in the province, but the
networking opportunities alone provide you the opportunity to
develop and maintain friendships that could last a lifetime.
This is my 3rd camp, and it was by far the best. I hope to return
next year both as an Official at MDP and as an Evaluator-in-Training
at BDP. Book your time off of work NOW, and participate in a camp
offered through OABO, you won't regret it.
I want to express how much I enjoyed the recent MDP
boys camp conducted at Humber College in Toronto. I feel very
priveliged to have had the benefit of such experienced, enthusiastic
and generous camp staff. The advice ranged from mechanics, call
selection, game preparation, the importance of building player &
coach rapport to what it takes to be a good partner. It will take
some time and further review to try and internalize all of the
information but even this process is made easier due to the
excellent reference materials provided and my notes from sessions.
I attended both the BDP and MDP camps during
the month of July 2009 at Humber College. First of all, I wanted to
thank you and your great staff for helping me in achieving my goal
of being a better official. Without a doubt, I am definitely a
better official today due to the ongoing feedback that I received
(before my games, during my games, after my games and also during my
DVD sessions).
Secondly, I wanted to comment on the great
atmosphere that was present throughout the 4 days of camp. From the
coaches, to the players and to the other officials that were there,
everyone was there to get better in their own way, and that was
great to see.
I will definitely be back for the JDP camp next
year!
Once again, thanks for a great experience!
Attending the all-female MDP camp has been a highlight
of my summer. The organizing staff and evaluators where supportive,
yet direct in their evaluations. I feel that the topic areas covered
in class discussions covered very applicable topics for younger
officials who have rather limited games experience (i.e.
communication with coaches and pre game preparation). I particularly
appreciate the written and video feedback we received, as it allows
me to watch, listen and learn directly from games I was involved
with. I believe I have gained more confidence and game management
skills to bring to the upcoming season. I would like to thank all of
those involved for dedicating their time to these development camps,
as they are extremely beneficial for those of us who attend. See you
next year.
As a camp novice, I found the intensity of the
MDP camp to be far greater than I had anticipated. This is a good
thing! The lack of down or free time allowed for full immersion into
basketball and prevented too many distractions which could have
diminished the impact of the camp.
That said, it was a very
enjoyable experience and I met a lot of great people with a special
common interest.
Thank you once again for the great camp. I found
it just as informative and interesting as last year (if not even
more so). After finishing my second year of reffing I realize that
there is so much more to learn, not just about the rules and
mechanics, but about the `feel` for the game and flow. I think that
once again I have become a better referee for having attended. I
will certainly attend again, and will highly recommend it to anyone
I know who wants to improve their game. The staff were great, as
always, and I would especially like to thank Jaime for the input and
insight
FEMALE OFFICIALS.........I had no idea
there were so many professional, skilled, kind, proficiently
qualified and just plan classy ladies there were out there in the
basketball officiating world.
This camp was a "make or break"
for me with regards to officiating basketball, and I'm happy to say
I'm sticking with it. I knew I loved the game of basketball and this
camp just confirmed how much I love the game and everything that
comes with it.
I can't thank you all enough for the hard work
you put into this camp and I look forward to the next one.
Thanks LADIES!!!!
Sessions from various leaders in the b-ball community
were well organized and educational. Tournament was well run
although there were some issues with equipment - horns/clocks etc.,
it didn't impact the experience. I would have liked the opportunity
to referee more than the 2.5 games. I appreciated the feedback from
the evaluators during and post-game and especially reviewing game
tapes. The video taping is a key for 'self-evaluation'. Camp
Directors and Staff were hospitable and generous and the
accommodations/food was excellent.
Thank you for a valuable camp
experience
I have been officiating for three years and this is my third year at camp. Every time I come back i learn so much more and I'm always able to incorporate the excellent feedback into my package and it honestly has made me become better faster year by year. To have the amount of knowledge and experience of the camp staff into one room to help you with mechanics, rules, situations, etc....is invaluable...many thanks to the team that runs the camps and doing such a great service to basketball in Canada.
Enjoyed the camp this summer. I participated in a different way more as roaming observer as I suffered an injury prior to attending. It allowed me to have a different vantage point. More from an evaluator stand point. I was able to stop, look and listen to what was around. Here the comments made by evaluators - have discussions with them. Speak to the officials in the quick scrums during timeout. Learn the ins and outs of scorers table and operation of shot clock. The evaluators where there for the development of the participants. They were approachable and open to comments. I would recommend that everyone should attend even as an observer. Lots to learn and digest. Understand the importance of communcation between partners, score table, coaches and of course players. Making a call and getting it right even more important admitting mistakes and keep the integrity of the team intact. Food was good, plenty of choices healthy and not so healthy. accomodations was good and camp was nicely organized. Thank you all for the opportunity. Bruce I still think some fitness should be incorporated into the program.
I would like to thank you for organizing and running such a informative, great event. This camp has opened my eyes. I used to believe I was a good reff and you guys have quickly put me in my place. LOL all positive, that is what I wanted. I need to work a lot, not only to look better out there but most of all show coaches, parents and my peers professionalism and respect in order to receive it back. Well if I don't I will now not hesitate to give out the lovely "T" LOL and it will be justified.
Not to ramble on, but I started officiating because I was tired of bitching during games. I love the sport and thought I could do a better job to provide fair play to both teams. This camp will allow me to be able to truly do that. Everyone you have invited to help us there is passionate, experienced, knowledgeable and currently participating in one way or another. We couldn't have asked for more Bruce, thank you. Please keep up all your hard work it has paid off I am one individual who has learned more in that session than I have in all my officiating so far. I am looking forward to the next time. Hope my job allows me to pursue this further and become part of your family.
This was my second camp in as many years as an official, and I continue to insist to any official that these camps are a must. The camp will challenge any official regardless of experience. We learned that there is so much more to being a respected official than simply understanding the rule book. Seminars focused on the importance of the referee within the game, from the perspective of the coach, player, and highly successful fellow officials. We learned the importance of pre-game discussions, rule interpretations, proper FIBA mechanics, personal goal setting, and the need to stay fit and present ourselves professionally. I believe you gain confidence through positive feedback and also from the criticism from evaluators with the 'on court' dead ball discussions and certainly the video analysis commentary. They are there to help us develop into an official that can make the call (hopefully the right call) with conviction and at the same time have fun while doing what we do.
The camp organizers from OABO, made the camp experience worthwhile, enjoyable and financially a bang for your buck! Bruce and his team should be thanked for another outstanding camp. Thank you also to Basketball Ontario for the financial support this year to assist with the MDP female officials camp. Look forward to coming back next year.
I attended MDP #2 this year (July 13-16, 2009) at Humber College. It was absolutely amazing! The level of play from the players, the atmosphere and of course the evaluations and training was terrific. I truly believe that I learned more about reffing in those 3.5 days then I did all season. The evaluators were awesome and their advice and tips have stayed with me and will make me a better referee. I am somewhat a perfectionist and I expect things to be great. This camp was so well organized, that it exceeded all of my expecations. I cannot thank the evaluators and the organizing committee enough for assisting me in becoming a better official. Keep it up! I will be definetely looking to return to a camp in the future. Especially if the evaluation/training team remains the same!
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