Sherbrooke Basketball is committed to offering training and development for referees of all ages, with an established pathway from domestic basketball to VJBL and other Basketball Victoria Leagues.

We are currently seeking applications from suitable candidates for the position of Referee Advisor.

Become a Referee

To be eligible to participate in a course, you must be 14 years old prior to September 1st of the year in which the course is held.  Watch this space for information about the next referee course.

Referee Pathway

Please note that referees at Sherbrooke come under the Basketball Victoria (Metro) jurisdiction, as opposed to Basketball Victoria Country. The Country pathway differs significantly.

When you are learning to become a basketball referee, you are referred to as a trainee. During this phase you are learning the basics of officiating, as well as developing your confidence and independence.

Shortly after this, you become an Apprentice referee. You are formally recognised as a referee in training.

The next stage is to be awarded C Grade referee status. When this is achieved, you are officially a qualified basketball referee.

Some time later and after further formal training, you become a B Grade referee. It is at this level that you start to develop leadership skills as an official, and may begin refereeing representative basketball for the first time.

After a minimum of 12 months, you may be invited to participate in a course to become an A Grade referee. This is the highest qualification for a basketball referee within a local association. It is expected that officials with this qualification are role models for other referees in their association.

Through your performance at the top of our local association, you may be nominated by your Referee Advisor to participate in the Level 1 referee course run by Basketball Victoria. Referees who are successful in achieving this accreditation are selected to referee the Victorian Championship division of VJBL, and are eligible for selection to the National Junior Classic and Australian Junior Championships.

Based on your performance in VJBL, you may be invited by Basketball Victoria to participate in the Level 2 referee course. Success here qualifies you to referee Big V – also known as senior representative basketball, the beginning of Elite Leagues within Victoria.

The next step is to be invited by Basketball Victoria to take part in the Level 3 referee course – this is where officiating principles not yet seen before are introduced. Attainment of this accreditation qualifies you to referee NBL1 – the strongest and most professional league in Australia below WNBL and NBL.

Only the best performing referees at the NBL1 level may be invited to referee WNBL by Basketball Australia and awarded Level 4 referee status. Selection to NBL is at their discretion.

Finally, Level 5 (FIBA) referee licenses are awarded by FIBA themselves. There are a range of licenses within this level of accreditation, but each qualify an official to referee international basketball at various levels.

Existing Referees

If you are an accredited referee from another association and are interested in refereeing at Sherbrooke, please email refadvisor@sherbrookebasketball.asn.au.