"I just hope one day we can stop counting. It was never a goal of mine, she says. She joined the NBA as a part-time official in 2019, and became a full-time official prior to the 202021 season. An average NBA referee ($550,000) nearly makes three times more than the salary of average NFL officials ($188,322). What is he doing now? While at Brush, Jelks completed her career as the school's boys and girls career scoring leader with 1,397 points. Playing a crucial role in every game, the NBA referees do more than enforce the rule book. Read on to learn more about her inspiring story. However, for the play-off matches they receive a bigger amount of money in 9K USD. What advice would you give to others who wants to be like you? Still, there's unanimous agreement that without the groundwork laid by the two trendsetters before them, the path would have been rockier. "She'll always say, if I did it, you can do it. But shes proud to be a role model for other young women who Love Basketball I hope that I can inspire other young girls to pursue their dreams, she says. Even looking back a decade ago demonstrates the exponential growth of referee salaries. Jelks describes people telling her that their daughters tune into NBA games she works and won't even focus on the players; their eyes only on her. Im usually pretty good at compartmentalizing, but sometimes Ill be in the middle of refereeing a game and Ill get a text from one of my daughters or my husband, and it definitely pulls at my heartstrings., Simone Jelks, the NBAs first female referee, is looking to the future with optimism. Despite the extra pressure, Jelks says that shes enjoying her chance to show off her skills at the highest level of basketball. "This isn't, 'Let's go out and do social work,'" Monty McCutchen, NBA's vice president of referee development and training, said. Orlando Magic vs. Memphis Grizzlies referees Kevin Scott (crew chief), Nick Buchert (referee), Simone Jelks (umpire) The Grizzlies are heavily favored to win this one as 7-point favorites at home with the point total set at 229. By recommendations from their superiors, some NBA G League referees have the opportunity to be promoted to the NBA. NBA referees also receive numerous benefits like travel expenses, insurance and retirement plans. Can Women's World Cup faves overcome infighting, injury, new coaches in 100 days? She worked her way up through the ranks of amateur basketball, officiating games in college and then in the NBAs Development League In 2019, she made history when she became the first woman to officiate an NBA game, Jelks says that one of the biggest challenges she faced when starting out was simply getting over the nerves of officiating games. Jelks has been officiating basketball games for over two decades. @NBAonTNT I was making it work. Professional NBA Referees generally take 7 thousand US Dollars for officiating a single NBA fixture. Mehtas parents are from India and moved to the United States in the 1980s. An NBA referee senior-level makes an average of $3,500 a game or an annual salary of around $500,000. Just be you. She is earning a handsome pay from her position as a NBA referee. I grew up watching her.". Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner broke the NBAs gender barrier among referees in 1997. The junior officials can earn up to 150K USD in a year. NBA officials Simone Jelks (left) and Ashley Moyer-Gleich working a game together in Chicago. We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. When I was telling them, Guys, just work hard, do the right things, be patient. I kind of see some of the things I was talking about with them coming into fruition. She was a 2004 McDonald's All-American nominee and a two-time (2003, 2004) Western Reserve Conference North Division MVP and first-team all-conference selection. Schroeder said she'd love to see her daughter take up officiating when she grows up -- although she joked her wife, Anderson, may represent the more lucrative career path as a physician. Entry-level referees take way less than the seniors as they get paid just 2 thousand USD for operating a game. In 2017, Jelks published One on One: A Gentleman's Guide to Dating Ambitious Women,a book "written from the perspective of an ambitious woman and delivered using the language of athletes." How would you describe being an NBA referee so far? 4. Simone Jelks has been promoted to a full-time NBA referee, becoming the seventh female full-time ref in league history. She is living proof that women can succeed at the highest level of this male-dominated profession. [3], Jelks refereed three years of college basketball, officiating games for the Mid-American Conference and the Horizon League. If you are having difficulty accessing any content on this website, please visit our Accessibility page. Rather, they've tried to go further. That's the most the NBA has ever had on staff at one time, and Scott said . Simone Marie Jelks[1] (born March 9, 1986) is an American professional basketball referee in the National Basketball Association (NBA), wearing number 81. The women that are coming on the scene now are helping us -- we're not helping them.". And not everyone was comfortable. Its 2021. United States based popular basketball league NBA has produced big number of richest players who have made their place among the worlds richest athletes of all time. [3], Jelks played college basketball for the USC Trojans women's basketball team from 2004 to 2008. Its not your job to make people comfortable with you. It also helps me understand the players frustrations. Within several years, for the 2014-15 season, Holtkamp-Sterling would become the first woman hired as a full-time NBA official in nearly two decades. I make sure to eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, she says. A combination of basketball expertise and interpersonal skills is what is needed for NBA referees to succeed in their roles. Those whispers Holtkamp-Sterling would hear as she entered the league years later? "In recent years, we have focused on expanding our pipeline of officials to greatly increase the pool of potential hires, and we have seen encouraging results, not only in the NBA but in the WNBA and the G League as well," Adam Silver, who became NBA commissioner in 2014, said to ESPN. Ask for a recommendation to work as an NBA referee. I grew up watching basketball and to be able to be a part of it now is just an unbelievable feeling., Jelks, who has been officiating for 12 years, says that she didnt set out to become the first female referee in the NBA. [1] She was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team for the 200708 season. They maintain the integrity of the world's premier basketball league consisting of 30 teams, 120 pre-season games, 1260 regular season games, and 4 rounds of playoffs. But now, in 2021-22, the NBA has six female referees on its full-time officiating staff, the most . Referees need to run, backpedal ,and lean over throughout basketball games, to stay with the ball and accordingly make quick calls. It hits harder now after years of reflection. These women, who collectively had precious few female sports icons as children, now recognize their own role in inspiring a future generation. She began her career as a referee in 2006, officiating games in the WNBA and various college leagues. To its credit, the NBA hasn't been satisfied at simply hitting numerical targets for the sake of appearance -- although no one's saying it's been perfect, either. Scott's average point total comes in at 230.1 while the home team has won an even 50% of the time when Scott is in . The USC alum,. Moyer-Gleich recounts similar experiences. Every player doesnt react the same way or respond the same way to criticism. I love the fact that Im an NBA referee. Last week, Jelks was one of three referees promoted to full-time status by the NBA, making her the fifth woman on the current lineup of officials. This skill becomes important in those instances. They're just talking about something they're uncomfortable with.". However, the women referees annual salaries arent even closer to the male officials ones. The most recent estimations put NBA referees annual salaries between $180,000 and $550,000. Back then, Palmer hardly had time to consider the significance of her accomplishment. You can talk about the girl in the fifth row with the big ta-tas! That doesn't bother me, because we're all just referees and we have to be able to co-mingle. Twenty-four of the G League's 57 referees are women, plus several who jump between the NBA and G League (all NBA officials with under four years of experience are commonly assigned as crew chief for G League games to gain experience); 15 of the WNBA's 33 referees are women, nine of whom also work games in the G League. The call couldnt have come at a better time for Jelks. I was totally fan-girling. You were just doing our scrimmage. And then I remember [then-Lakers guard] Rajon Rondo came over and he just looked and he was like, Congratulations. She also worked 16 regular-season NBA games as a non-staff official during the 2019-20 season. 7:30 PM ET He has officiated in numerous collegiate conferences, including the Atlantic 10, Big South, Colonial Athletic Association and Conference USA. And that prepared me significantly for officiating in the NBA. . Who is Referee number 81 in the NBA? A published author, a former professional basketball player, and now a full-time NBA official. Simone Jelks knows that she has to be twice as good as her male counterparts to prove herself on the court. After college, she played professionally in Puerto Rico and Croatia. As for her diet, Jelks says that she tries to eat mostly healthy foods. She also worked the 2022 Rising Stars and All-Star Saturday Night at NBA All-Star in Cleveland. During the 2019-20 NBA season, he refereed 13 regular-season NBA games as a non-staff official. See you out here. And I know that meant a lot to me. They have demonstrated through the growth and the quality of their performance, they warrant working NBA games on a regular basis.. "She really did an awesome job of reaching out to us and saying, 'Hey, I really want to start this group. Official release. College. The highest salary for a WNBA player is less than the minimum salary of an NBA referee. Xavier Browns basketball IQ and understanding of the game is advanced for his age. The average salary for an NBA referee ranges from $180,000 to $550,000. I'm good, I'll tell you whether or not she's cute!' Loading Per Game Stats. I also try to get enough sleep.. Volunteering as a referee for the local area's parks and recreation department is a good way to start. Scott, the daughter of college basketball officials, was promoted Monday to the full-time NBA staff referee roster. Its so important for them to see someone that looks like them in a position that they may have thought wasnt attainable, she said. "Being a Black woman herself, being a trailblazer as the first African-American [woman referee] in the NBA, she understands 100% of the challenges that I face," Jelks, 35, said. It was early in Holtkamp-Sterling's young basketball officiating career, years before she'd ascend to the NBA level. 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