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EspañolWhen basketball officials Amy Sampson, Jami Bauer and Carla Hall took the court together last week, they may have made history.
Former Joplin Basketball Officials Association Director Warren Turner calls them pioneers because — as he believes — for the first time an all-female officiating crew took the court together last Thursday during the Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association state championships at South Middle School.
Turner said he has checked with MSHSAA and metropolitan areas such as St. Louis to confirm that this was indeed the first all-female crew in the state.
Coincidentally, the first game they officiated was a boys game with another anomaly — a female head coach.
“In my opinion, girls basketball has gained in interest and enthusiasm,” Turner said. “The more they play, the better they get and the more they need officiating.”
Turner said it has been a struggle to keep women officials on the court.
“We’ve had maybe a total of five women officials in our association, but they don’t last long,” Turner said. “But if we promote them and take good care of them, I think they will stay.”
Turner said that because of the lack of women in officiating, they sometimes rise up in the ranks quickly, moving to college officiating sooner than their male counterparts.
There are currently about 90 total officials working out of the Joplin Basketball Officials Association, with just three active females.
“I think it’s important that we get younger people involved as they graduate from high school,” Turner said. “Anyone who has played high school basketball — men or women — knows the game, they just have to learn the mechanics of officiating.”
Helping, teaching kids
Sampson talked about how she got involved in officiating.
“I played basketball since I was a kid, and I played college ball under coach Charlie Williams at Ozark Christian College,” Sampson said. “I am a teacher who coached basketball for many years. After I stopped coaching, I said, ‘You know what? I need to get into officiating.’ So I did, and I love it. It’s one of those things where I really didn’t want to go back into coaching, but I still wanted to be involved in a way that actually still helps kids and teaches kids and this was a really good way to do it.
“Being able to stop a game and teach a kid something that maybe their coach has also told them allows me in a way to kind of still coach a little bit,” Sampson said.
Sampson said the most enjoyable facet of officiating for her is the relationships she has been able to build, be they parents or kids or school personnel.
Sampson, a middle school science and high school English teacher at East Newton who also teaches English at Crowder College, talked about getting more women involved in officiating.
“It’s kind of lonely,” Sampson said of being one of a handful of female officials in the area. “The bottom line is there are a lot of women who know the sport really well — ones that used to play the sport, that used to coach the sport — so it would be nice to see more women officiating the sport. It changes the game a little. Kids are a little more polite to women usually, but it doesn’t change the way the kids play in terms of their grit, but I think they mind their manners a little bit better.”
Bauer, a first-year basketball official from Republic, began her career as a softball official and decided to add volleyball and basketball this year.
“It’s neat," she said. “It's good experience to get to work with other female officials on the area.”
She also said the teaching aspect is her favorite part of officiating.
“Just making sure the kids know how to play the game,” Bauer said.” Having been a coach for years, I really enjoy the teaching moments.”
When she’s not on the court, Bauer is an operations coordinator at an auto glass shop in Aurora.
'Love for the game'
Hall, of Cassville, started officiating about five years ago.
“I got into it because of my love for the game and the opportunity to watch the kids athleticism and determination,” she said.
Hall, who works at Barry County Abstracts and Titles, talked about the juggling between her daytime and nighttime jobs.
“It’s a big change of pace,” Hall said. “But it takes a big commitment, and there are a lot of boundaries. I have my day job, but I love my night job. So it takes a lot of scheduling and a lot of hard work.”
Hall shared he thoughts on being one of the three members of the first all-female crew.
“I hope it gives other young women — athletes and nonathletes — the courage to step out and try something new,” Hall said.
Hall also talked about the qualities it takes to become a successful official.
“It takes a strong will,” Hall said. “You have to have confidence. You have to be bold and determined and confident in yourself that you are making the right call. Someone told me, leave the game better than you found it. As long as I follow that, then I am teaching kids something.”