It is with great sadness that SABO acknowledges the passing of Brian Hilsen on Thursday morning. Brian was a long time official at various levels in Saskatchewan and was the assignor in Saskatoon for over 25 years.
Brian was a friend and mentor to many of us and will be greatly missed. Many of us can attribute much or our early basketball refereeing career to Brian. He was a fundamental piece of the SABO and SBOA for many years Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hilsen family. A celebration of his life will be on Satuday December 1st at 1:00 PM at Marion Graham Collegiate in Saskatoon.
We are hoping that all referees wear a shirt and tie with their Officiating Jacket. Brian would love this tribute....he always wore ties and the jackets will pay tribute to his contributions to SBOA and SABO.

For a list of the scheduled SABO clinics please see here

FIBA has adopted several rule changes this year. A summary of changes and new rulebook/interpretations can be found here

The CABO exam this year will run from November 30th - December 9th. The exam for new officials and NOCP level 1 will be restricted to the first 30 questions. The remaining officials will write the traditional 50 question exam which will include the 30 questions used on the Level 1 exam. If a Level 1 official has no desire to try for advancement to Level 2, then they can simply stop after Question 30 is completed. This will be communicated clearly after a Level 1 official completes Question 30

Thank you to all those that attended the clinics in Saskatoon and Regina and to our presenters Cam Moskal, Dave Werry, and Warren Poncsak.
If you were unable to attend either clinic you may find copies of the presentations on our education page here

Saskatoon – October 28, 2017 11 AM – 4 PM - Physical Activity Complex (PAC) Room 232
Regina – October 29, 2017 11 AM – 4 PM - Conexus Arts Centre

Presenters will include:

• Cam Moskal – CABO National Interpreter, former FIBA Referee, current CIS referee, National Evaluator
• Dave Werry - former CABO National Interpreter, former FIBA Referee, SABO Referee In Chief, National Evaluator
• Warren Poncsak – National Evaluator, CIS Referee

Topics will include:

• New Rule changes
• Floor Mechanics
• Game Management
• Game Preparedness

Free admission to SABO Members

CABO in association with Canada Basketball, CIS, and CCAA have announced a new commission to help with the development of officials and also look after assigning officials to the National Championships, CIS, CCAA and the summer CB Nationals. For more information see here

FIBA has adopted some rule changes for the start of the 2014 season. It is unclear at this time which leagues SABO services will adopt these changes. At this time the ACAC will implement the new rules. Stay tunes for updates on other leagues in Saskatchewan.

There is a ls a link below to a document presented at the FIBA world championship about 3 person mechanics. In regards to Mechanics slides 31-34 are very important. There are no “curtains” anymore in regards to coverage. As high level officials you must be comfortable in moving from Primary coverage to Secondary coverage and when to do so. The crew must get the call right but we still do not want to see 3 whistles on a foul call if possible (slide 33). This is a critical talking point for your pre-game.

2014 FIBA Rule Changes
2014 FIBA Rule Book
2014 FIBA Rule Interpretations (Revised 2015)
CABO Presentation 2014 FIBA Rule Changes
2014 Three Person Mechanics Presentation

At the Canadian Association of Basketball Officials (CABO) AGM in the fall it was decided that the FIBA style shirt is the recommended shirt for all games in Canada. CABO asked the provinces to change to the new shirt by next year. The SABO executive has agreed and the new shirts are available for sale.

To order please contact Brad Smith (North) at evaluation@sabo.sk.ca or Neil Donnelly (South) at president@sabo.sk.ca