senior british basketball referee selected for nba development programme

Senior British Basketball referee, Gavin Williams, has been selected to attend an international referee development programme during this month’s NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

The programme, which is run by the NBA’s referee operations team, will focus on the off-court development of international officials and instructors, according to the principles and methods used by the NBA.

The inclusion of international officials through this programme has been introduced to help grow and strengthen the global officiating community, so Williams will be joined on the programme by officials from across the world.

Williams, who is a current FIBA international and British Basketball League referee from Wales will visit the NBA Summer League from 13 to the 16 July and during this time he’ll attend a number of lectures and workshops, plus review sessions following some of the games.

Speaking about the opportunity Williams, who was also appointed as the interim CEO of Basketball Wales earlier in the year, said:

“I’m really looking forward to this amazing opportunity which will provide me with the chance to learn from some of the best officials and instructors in the world.

“I’ll be able to see how they prepare for and evaluate each game which I know will help my personal development as a referee and as a tutor, as I’m also looking forward to sharing this knowledge with my British colleagues when I return home.”

Commenting on Williams’ selection, Chris Grant, Chair of the British Basketball Federation, said:

“We were delighted to learn of Gavin’s selection for this prestigious referee development programme and know that he will seize this opportunity to learn from some of the best. He’ll then be able to share what he has learned with other British officials, to help kickstart what we intend to be an ambitious and well thought through process of driving up standards.”

It’s been a busy month for Williams as his selection for the international programme follows his recent outing as part of the officiating team for the FIBA Under 18 Women’s European Championships Division B semi-final between Croatia and Greece.

To find out more about British Basketball, including the latest updates on the Great Britain Under 20s Men’s team who are currently competing in Division B of the FIBA European Youth Championships, head to gb.basketball