Despite challenges, number of disabled referees growing across Para sports

Kevin Shaw has been around the game of boccia for forty-plus years. He’s been an athlete and currently serves on multiple boards within the sport. Now, he’s starting a new journey: becoming a boccia referee. 

However, seeing a referee with a physical disability is a rarity in much of Para sport.

Shaw, who has cerebral palsy, said that within boccia, the biggest challenge — one that he would like to see be alleviated faster — is changing assumptions.

“I think the biggest issue is culture change, having people believe that people with disabilities can referee or coach.”

In boccia, referees are expected to perform physical tasks, such as holding the paddle that signifies which athlete is supposed to throw next and getting down on the ground to measure which balls are closest to the jack — akin to the button in curling.

Shaw, like any Para athlete, has workarounds. He’s cut red and blue socks to wear on his arms that he raises to indicate to the athletes who is to throw next. He also has an assistant who he can instruct to perform the physical tasks that the former BC3-classified athlete can’t do in the way an able-bodied official would. Currently, he referees at the provincial level, calling himself “the new kid on the block.” 

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Shaw, who is part of a working group focused on the further inclusion of disabled referees, said that an issue that referees with disabilities have, much like their athlete counterparts, is how costs are going to be paid in order for them to travel to competitions with the support they need.

There are a number of international referees in boccia who have visible disabilities. Peter Leyser, the executive director of Boccia Canada, said that creating more opportunities for disabled referees is a top priority for his organization. 

“Most certainly, if they can fill the role either independently or with the appropriate support, anyone is welcome to fill the role. Boccia Canada currently has one certified technical delegate with a disability, along with several referees at various levels in the referee pathway, and World Boccia has at least one TD with a disability that I am aware of [plus several referees]. That being said, we know we can do more and identified [this] as an initiative in our current strategic plan,” Leyser said.

Barriers in higher-speed sports

In other sports, like wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby, becoming a referee with a physical disability is less likely, though not impossible.

Kevin Bowie, the head of officials for Wheelchair Rugby Canada and a referee at the Paris games who has officiated both sports at an elite level, said that there are multiple technical staff at this year’s games with disabilities, but that barriers remain. 

How to develop disabled referees is also a question that is in flux. Bowie said that the typical pathway for an international wheelchair rugby referee is through officiating another sport beforehand. 

“Most people, they do able-bodied sport. They stumble onto Para or are introduced to it by an evaluator, think it’s cool and try it out.”

Bowie, who has been refereeing basketball since the age of 16 and played elite-level wheelchair basketball — in Canada, able-bodied people can compete alongside disabled teammates at the domestic level — believes that his skill set is greatly improved due to that experience. 

“It helps a lot because you see how the chair moves. … Understanding the chair dynamics and the way athletes can exploit gaps or use pick and roll/crack blocks and back picks is a huge part of my skill set. This was largely developed as a basketball ref and as a wheelchair basketball player.”

Where you’re much more likely to see a physically disabled official is in technical or minor roles, such as score and timekeepers.  

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‘It’s really about loving the game’

South of the border, the National Wheelchair Basketball Association, the governing body for American wheelchair basketball, does have a tradition of wheelchair-using referees.

Ryan Juguan, a college teammate of Canada’s Nik Goncin and Jonathan Vermette at the University of Illinois, believes that refereeing from a chair gives him a unique vantage point that isn’t available to some other referees in an American system where able-bodied players generally can’t play on competitive teams. 

Juguan’s current goal is to develop into a collegiate wheelchair basketball referee and is hopeful that more disabled people get a chance to stay involved via officiating rather than a more typical path, like coaching. 

“It’s really about loving the game. … I feel like I wouldn’t be here without the sport. And so I owe a lot to this game and to the people before me and the people that provided us the avenue to be a high, high elite athlete. [That’s] something that that really drew me in the beginning, but loving the game is what helped me stay here.”

Under-representation among classifiers

Another technical role that tends to include less disability representation is that of a classifier. Classification is perpetually a point of contention for athletes and, traditionally, classifiers have tended to come from healthcare professions like physio or occupational therapy.

Christina Swett is a classifier for Wheelchair Basketball Canada, one of a few Canadian classifiers who is both disabled and have competed in the sport. She said that one possible reason for a lack of disabled officials is because of past trends.

Swett added that classifiers tend to come from healthcare backgrounds, a group of professions that has its own lack of disability representation. 

“You then narrow the pool pretty substantially by sort of having that perception, I’m going to say, of a healthcare background being needed in order to classify, which is not necessarily the case,” she said.

‘I would say go for it’

So, where does Para sport go from here if it wants to increase the number of disabled people in technical roles?

Bowie said that he would encourage those interested in getting involved to reach out at the grassroots level to discover not just what roles might be on offer, but which ones might be accessible to them. He added that he’s thankful that the international community has found opportunities for disabled colleagues. 

“In our crew this week in Paris, we have one on court official with an invisible disability and one minor official with a physical disability, using a wheelchair. I think it’s great to see that our crew is not just able-bodied.”

Shaw’s advice to those looking to get involved?

“I would say go for it. It takes a little time for someone to get up to speed but, after a while, you become very familiar with the game, with the process and with the athletes. So, I believe that it’s a good opportunity for more people to get involved.”