Zitina Aokuso, Inspiring the Young
We catch up with Vaughan Mayberry, a full-time referee for the NBL and the newly appointed Basketball Queensland QBL Referee Manager to hear how he first got into refereeing, and what he hopes to bring to his new role. Having been refereeing for over 30 years, we are looking forward to seeing Vaughan’s level of expertise and experience come through at QBL.
Where did you work before joining the BQ team?
I’m currently employed by the National Basketball League (NBL) as a full-time referee, and as part of my role, I’ll be working with Basketball Queensland during the off-season as the QBL Referee Manager. I’ve been working full-time with the NBL since August 2016 when they employed myself and Michael Aylen from Adelaide as full-time referees – the first full-time referees in the history of Australian basketball. I’ve been refereeing in the NBL since 1993, but it was a pretty much a weekend pursuit before Michael and myself were employed full-time last year. I’m a journalist by trade and prior to scoring the full-time NBL gig, I was working for Pagemasters as a sub-editor for about four years. I’ve been a journalist since 2003 and have written and edited for The Sunday Mail, The Courier-Mail, mX and The Cairns Post. I also have a business degree and worked as a corporate accountant for about 10 years before I was a journalist.
How long have you been refereeing and how did you first get involved?
I’ve been refereeing basketball since I was 15. I’m 45 now so that’s just over 30 years. I started refereeing just to make some pocket money. I figured I was spending so much time at the local basketball stadium either playing or watching my three younger brothers play so I might as well earn some money while I was there. I ended up being quite good at it, so I refereed a lot of local basketball during my teens and then once I finished high school decided to take it more seriously.
What are your greatest achievements in refereeing?
- Refereed at the Rio and London Olympics
- Refereed at four senior world championships (2002 in USA, 2006 in Brazil, 2010 in Czech Republic and 2014 in Spain)
- Refereed in the NBL since 1993, having officiated more than 500 games
- I’ve been a FIBA referee since 2000
What are you hoping to achieve during the 2017 QBL season?
I hope to pass on as much knowledge and experience as I can to the QBL referee and referee educator panel. I’ve been officiating at the highest level now for almost 25 years and it would a crime for me to not share what I know and what I’ve learnt with Queensland’s most talented crop of referees and educators. Hopefully I can help the referees and educators grow and improve individually, and as a group, during the coming season and help them fully reach the peak of their abilities.
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