Recently I decided to form a committee of people to help me get to the
NEXT LEVEL. I want to begin to travel and referee the highest levels of college basketball. I am 37 years old and have been officiating for over 9 years now, seven of those at the high school level. I am single with no kids. I love high school basketball, I even coached for several years, but my passion is the college game. I am giving myself 2-5 years to get as many invites to various conferences and ultimately to the highest levels of college. There are so many college conferences looking for quality female officials who have good mechanics, solid decision making, and the “IT” factor. I am not just looking to get into the West Coast conferences, I am looking nationally. I am reestablishing my contacts back east and making new ones to help build the number of people that will see me referee.
I know there is still lot’s to learn, any good referee knows that there is always more to learn, therefore the committee being formed and certain steps need to be taken, I like how my pastor, Shawn puts it, when talking about Christianity, he said, “you make a decision and then you take ACTION!!” Thank you, Shawn for this analogy that I can make with my decision to referee college basketball and go for it. I am a person that needs to write things down and make a list of what needs to be accomplished. Otherwise, I get side tracked with life and forget things. It is optional to be on my committee, a lot of where you get is who you know, so the more support the better. If you are getting this letter, you are being asked by me to be on my committee. One of my colleagues from NCBOA asked, what is my job as part of this committee? Well, some of you have already been there for me as part of my committee in your general support as co-workers and friends when you tell me my mistakes and help me get better in basketball and life. You also have served as an inspiration telling me that I am a good official and a good person, and should consider this next step. Without people like you, I wouldn’t be here, and thank you.
I also wouldn’t be here if wasn’t for family and friends, who always love and show support for whatever I get into. I also want to of course thank our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ for my abilities and this opportunity. I would be remiss if I didn’t include in my committee both Him and my dog, as she will endure the grunt of my travels in the winter, Thanks Jezebel. Ed Rush(an NBA Official) has suggested being a BALANCED person and to not forget my faith, family, friends, and my teaching vocation, and in that order, before the avocation of refereeing basketball. Thanks Ed for that wonderful advice.
Once you join my committee, you will be asked to continue your support and I welcome any and all information that can help me, Tonya, get to the NEXT LEVEL. I will keep you informed of all camps, clinics, and let you know when I am scheduled to be on TV refereeing basketball, Woo Hoo, I am excited, I hope you are to. Thank you all and God Bless you.
Tonya
Please let me know through email or phone if you can serve on this committee and the next email will be my
ACTION PLAN.
The Action Plan
• Form a committee for support
• Welcome criticism and ask many questions
• Evaluate myself each game and have some reflection time recorded in a journal, funny plays, questions that arise, could things been done differently, etc.
• Join more associations including the Pacific Coast Conference, a junior college association I have already been invited to, basically referee more basketball
• Attend online class held by Ed Rush(NBA Official)
• Become a mentee to anyone willing to give back
• Join the Instructional Committee and continue to give back to my main association, NCBOA
• Mentor younger and inexperienced officials
• Study and stay on top of the rules and mechanics, especially the difference between college and high school rules and mechanics.
• Continue to read my Referee Magazine, the entire Basketball section every month
•
Attend a South Atlantic Women’s Basketball Camp being held in North Carolina, April 17-19, which includes conferences such as ACC, Big South, Colonial Athletic(George Mason, my alma mater), and the Southern Conference. The camp is only
$150, which doesn’t include a place to stay, airfare, or meals. Any of these conferences would be a dream to work in, and Southwest flies into Raleigh, DC, and Maryland, right where I have lots of family to visit.
•
Attend a camp being held at the University of Tennessee June 12-14, which includes conferences such as the Atlantic Sun, Ohio Valley, and a huge Georgia Junior College. This camp is expensive at
$400, but it includes lodging and meals and it is about 7 hours from many family members out there, I might just get a rental car and meet you this summer. The camp fee would not include the airfare to get there. This is a dream camp, but I have a good feeling about this one and the possibility to meet Pat Summit is even better!! I talked to the camp coordinator and she says the Coach sometimes speaks at the camps. Those of you who don’t know who Pat Summit is, you are not a college basketball fan, google it!
•
Attend a camp locally in Orange County at Concordia University July 10-12, which includes the Big West, the huge NAIA, which includes divisions I and II, some Division III and junior college conferences, both on the West Coast. According to many people on NCBOA, it is the best camp to attend to be seen for the entire West Coast and possibly other states. The cost of the camp is $200. It is about an hour to an hour and half drive from where I live, so gas is the only other expense with this camp. I might even attend this camp with a local official, so we can share gas expenses.
• Be disciplined enough to save the money for these camps, which all come to about $750, ironically the amount and more that some of these conferences pay to officiate their games, so it is a good investment. Some of these conferences have camps and clinics for FREE and will even pay me travel stipends with assignments, once you begin to work for them on a yearly basis. So you can constantly learn and improve and not have to spend a $750 in future springs or summers. I am also realistically looking at about the same amount in additional expenses.
• Start looking at ways to save and or raise the amount needed to attend these camps. Most of these camps require money, some if not all by May 15, 2009. The spring camp will be sooner.
• Apply for scholarships from my home association, NCBOA. I know there are funds for our officials to attend camps, I just need to apply.
• Try and attend a camp with someone else to share gas and hotel expenses.
• Check with committee and do research for cheaper airfare, discounts, and people they might know to make the travel less expensive.
• Eat out less, drink less beer, no more Starbucks, stop impulse buying, make some sacrifices, and start stashing money away for my travel.
• Obtain place for my dog to stay or get someone stay and watch her at my studio apartment.
•
OBTAIN MORE INCOME: I’m going to umpire softball for MOA(high school level), continue working for the Boys & Girls Club, under 25 hours a week contract when the kids are in school, continue with my independent contractor duties tutoring and refereeing basketball. Possibly working for my uncle’s construction company doing construction and my aunt’s Real Estate office doing office work. If I travel, possibly working for my old associations in Virginia and Maryland, for AAU and high school tournaments. For instance, driving from the Tennessee camp June to Virginia, where my baby brother lives in 6 hours and working games while I am out there for more income.
•
Obtain a $500 loan as a valuable investment in ME!! Once I work my first two college games I can pay back the loan, plus 50% interest, which would be $750, which is one or two division I basketball games easily. If I am not invited to any conferences or meetings, or clinics to move up to the next level, then the loan could be paid back at the end of this July, when I will be obtaining a lucrative summer contract from Nacel Open Door(google it), where I will be teaching ESL and serve as a Coordinator of Programs that Host Foreign Students. A separate contract that is notarized can be drawn up for this loan.
