BRA - Women referees "made in Brazil"

RIO DE JANEIRO (Referee program) - Each day women break into men’s territory in many areas. The same is happening in sports, especially in Brazilian basketball, with the number of women referees growing in competitions organized by the Brazilian Basketball Federation (CBB).

The investment in women referees in Brazil is a program developed by Geraldo Fontana, Referee Coordinator of CBB and FIBA Commissioner, to follow FIBA’s philosophy. FIBA’s plan is to increase the number of women referees throughout the world. And the results are coming. On April 4th and 6th, Andreza Almeida and Flavia Renata Almeida became the first two referees to work together in a game valid for National Championship for Men in Brazil.

“The nomination of Andreza and Renata is part of the program to motivate women to become referees. The goal is to give them experience by acting in games with stronger contact”, explained Geraldo Fontana. “And these games are also useful to practice for further FIBA’s exams. Just a few countries work with women in high level games of men competitions. The development of Andreza and Flávia represent the success of the investments. In 2005, CBB took them both to the School Games, organized by the Brazilian Olympic Committee. Parallel the tournament, CBB had the referee’s camp, which was very productive. This kind of event is a good way to develop leadership, to teach and discover talents. With training and support, Andreza and Flávia will be motivated to improve and invest in their career.”

It all happened very fast with Andreza Almeida. After working at the finals of School Games in 2006, Andreza took the exam for national referee. In the same year, she worked at three games of the National Championship for Women and, in 2008, at nine games of the preliminary round and the fourth game of the finals between Catanduva and Ourinhos. Following the path of referees like Tatiana Steigerwald and Fátima Aparecida da Silva, Andreza is getting into the men’s competitions and has already worked at three games of the National Championship for Men.

“In 2008, the Brazilian Basketball Federation and Geraldo Fontana begun to invest even more women referees in the National Championship for Men,” said Andrezza. “The women participation in men’s competition is very important for Brazilian referring. People will start to know the potential of each one. Actually, there is not too much difference between men’s and women’s games. Sometimes men are more polite when they want to argue about a decision. They respect us for being from the opposite sex and there is no discrimination. The only matter is that the situation is different than usual. It was common to see a man in a women’s game not the other away around.”

Since 2005, Flávia Renata Almeida is working at the National Championship for Women. In the last edition, the referee worked at 15 games of the preliminary round, two of the quarter-finals, one of the semifinals and the first and fifth game of the finals. This year, Flávia joined the select group of women referee at the National Championship for Men and has already worked at seven games of the competition.

“This opportunity that CBB gave us, through Geraldo Fontana, make us happy because it is the recognition of our work,” added Flávia. “Except the strength and height, the tension and determination are the same in both competitions. Being a woman in a male environment increases the responsibility, since we have to give much more to show a good work and gain everybody’s respect.”