THE Guyana Basketball Officials Council (GBOC) on Saturday held a workshop at Duke Lodge in Georgetown, with referees from the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) and Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) bringing them up to date with the necessary rule changes and other important aspects of officiating.

The workshop that was conducted by GBOC President Cecil Chin and Former national point guard cum referee Lugard Mohan saw the participation from 10 referees from the two Sub-associations.
According to Chin, he’s pleased that the officials from LABA and GABA have been keeping themselves abrasive with regards to the rules of the game and how it is administered on the court.
“I’m impressed with the level of knowledge and exchanges shown by the referees, which means that they have been doing their home work” Chin said, while adding that as of October 1 last year, FIBA had amended the relevant changes to their rules.
Chin said that he’s presently in talks with officials from the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) to see how Guyana could benefit from a referee’s certification course which will aid in the development of the sport.
He said that GBOC’s biggest challenge is finding referees who fit the age requirement and his council will be doing a serious recruiting drive to bring younger officials to the game.
“Our Problem is finding referees who are under the age of 25 so we can push them forward, we have persons interested and so with a lot now happening with the game locally, hopefully we can gradually integrate them among our more seasoned referees,” Chin said.
Chin lauded the move by the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) in being able to have an administrative and coach’s clinic held in Guyana but stressed that officiating is a soar point in the sport.
The long standing basketball administrator and former international referee said that he’s certain basketball would be in a better place and added that GBOC is committed to helping in the development of the sport.