By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER retiring from the game as a player, Stevandrae Wells never envisioned herself making the transition to a referee. Since running the floor from 2019, she has now moved up the ranks as one of three Bahamians who have earned their international referee certification.

She, along with Grand Bahamian Eustacia Smith, are the only two certified female referees in the Bahamas, who have secured their international certification along with their male counterpart Christian Wilmore.

After sitting a series of physical and theory courses for about six months, Wells passed the course. It became official as of September 1 and will be in effect for two years. In taking the course, she and Smith had to be nominated by the Bahamas Basketball Federation.

This was the second time that Wells had to undergo the test after she had some difficulties with her training process during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Freddie Brown, the highest serving FIBA basketball official in the country, noted that he had a chance to work with Wells, putting her through a vigorous training programme to get prepared for the course last year.

He said he was thrilled to see how well she responded to the challenge and got the job done, knowing that she did extremely well and applied herself to go well beyond the call of duty for a woman.

In accepting the accolades as she closed out the year officiating at the Providence Basketball Club’s 24th Yuletide Classic for senior and junior boys over the Christmas holiday at the CI Gibson Gymnasium, Wells said she’s extremely grateful for her accomplishment. “People think that basketball is only a male sport, but there are a lot of females officiating,” Wells said. “I hear so often people say this is a man’s sport or a man’s game, but basketball doesn’t have a face, nor is it based on gender.

“So, I know I’m good at what I do and it doesn’t matter whether or not I’m a male or a female. I will go out there and call the game for what it’s worth. I do demand respect as an official, whether I am a male or a female.”

Wells, 30, formerly played for the CI Gibson Rattlers senior girls’ basketball team and the College of the Bahamas Caribs before they made the switch over to the University of the Bahamas Mingoes. She earned her bachelor’s degree in banking and finance in 2015.

While coming out to watch the Bahamas Government Departmental Basketball Association games as a staff at Sandilands Rehabilitation Center, serving as an accountant for the past six years, Wells said she was encouraged to officiate the games as it was only geared for men at the time.

She accepted and the rest, as they say, was history.

“I was always a student of the game, but I found out that officiating was a little more technical, so I had to go back into the books and learn about the rules and regulations,” she pointed out. “I continued to study and worked with the officials and I made it a point to get better.”

She currently serves as a member of the New Providence Association of Certified Basketball Officials, headed by Darrell Ranger and includes Wilmore, who provided a lot of assistance, along with Brown and Randy Cunningham, in passing her certification course last year.

“We always help each other along the way and we always have discussions after the game about what took place during our games,” she said. “We have a pretty good association and everyone treats you like you should be treated, not because I am a female.

“We also have clinics where we try to make sure that all of our referees are on the same page and we know the new changes. So we always have sessions where we go over the rules and regulations and ensure that we perform them to the best of our abilities on and off the court as a referee.”

In critiquing her performance, Wilmore said Wells certainly has surpassed all expectations and the sky is now the limit for her.

“For her experience level and in the number of years that she has been officiating, she has improved significantly,” Wilmore said. “Obviously, she’s a student of the game, a student of officiating and she takes critiques very well.

“So, I know that she has the potential to not only be the top referee in the country, not only usurping myself, but to be a top referee in this region and I’m not just talking about being a female, but a top referee period. She has that potential and all of the intangibles that it takes to get there.”

The only thing that she’s lacking, according to Wilmore, is her international exposure and that will come sooner than later.

“She is going to excel very rapidly once she gets that opportunity to be at the world elite level,” he pointed out. “It will take a lot of experience. They need to see how. They have not seen her yet because she hasn’t been assigned to any international competition yet.

“But they will critique her and refine her game. I have started to help her out privately with some things she didn’t even know existed. You start people at the elementary level and once they develop and master their skills, you move them up the ladder.

“She still has work to do, but the potential is there. Once she gets the opportunity, I expect her to continue to grow,” said Wilmore.

As the president of the association, Ranger lauded Wells for other accomplishments.

“Wells is one of our up-and-coming referees we have,” he said.

“She’s put in all of the energy and game that is needed to get the job done. So, she deserves it. That’s why hard work pays off.

“She’s progressed really fast since she came in. She’s a quick learner. She is willing to listen and do whatever it takes to become better.

“She will go very far in the sport as a referee because of her work ethic.”

To women out there who might have an interest in following suit, Wells encourages them to do so.

“It could be a new career for you and not just a job,” she said. “You can become an international certified official like I did and now I can call international games. So it’s not just a job for me, but it’s a career.”

While she’s delighted to be a referee, Wells said the highlight for her has been becoming an international certified official.

She’s now waiting on her opportunity to officially officiate at her first major international competition.

“Officiating was never something that I saw myself doing,” she stated. “I went to a few Family Islands to officiate and it has opened up a lot of doors for me. I have not gotten the call to officiate overseas yet, but I’m still waiting on that opportunity. “Every opportunity is a learning opportunity, so I have really not had a disappointing moment yet. I’ve had the opportunity to officiate at every national event, including night league and high school as well as the Bahamas Games.”

So far, Wells has no regrets in coming back from being a former player to officiate in the sport she so loves.