White to officiate in FIBA World Championships

The CNMI’s Gabriel White was selected to be part of the referees pool in the 2009 FIBA Women’s U-19 World Championships, which will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from July 23 to Aug. 2.

This will be White’s second international tournament after going to Debrecen, Hungary last year to officiate games in the FIBA Europe Under 20 B-Division Championships. He is qualified to referee games in FIBA World Championships after getting his FIBA International Referee License mid last year.

Though it will not be his first time to officiate in world championships, White said the tournament in Bangkok will be a lot different from that of Hungary.

“This differs in many ways compared to the first basketball tournament that I had attended in Europe. The tournament in Bangkok will showcase the world’s outstanding and talented female basketball players. The tournament last summer was for boys in the FIBA Europe Zone and its for B players,” White said.

White said the level of competition in Bangkok will be very high.

“These female athletes are not only the best high school and junior national players. They will be the future basketball stars in NCAA, the WNBA, and other leagues in the world. This tournament is one of the major events for thousands of recruiters,” White added.

“This tournament will be huge. The only other tournaments bigger than this are the higher age group world championships, the Olympic Zone qualifiers, and the Olympics itself,” he said.

The Bangkok tournament will feature teams from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Mali, China, Russia, Spain, Thailand, Tunisia, and the U.S.

“At such as high level of competition, the type of officiating needed at the world championships will also be very high and very professional. For instance, before the tournament begins, referees are required to arrive a few days early to attend a FIBA clinic,” White said.

He added that besides the referees, all FIBA commissioners and referee supervisors will be attending the clinic.

“I am really looking forward to working with 24 other referees selected to officiate in the world championships. As always, I will do my best to represent FIBA Oceania Zone and BANMI in a professional manner,” the 31-yeard-old referee said.

“My goal in every basketball game that I officiate in is always to establish good teamwork, communication, and support with fellow referees. I must do the best job I can for the players, coaches, and fans in the spirit and integrity of the game,” said White, adding if he works hard enough, it will earn him a chance to officiate a medal game.