Teahan to referee in NBL league again

Wairarapa now has two national league basketball referees, and they will be controlling the same game when the 2009 competition gets underway on March 14.
Andy Thackray, has been officiating at the top level for some seasons now and he has been joined by Gareth Teahan, recently elected chairman of the Wairarapa Basketball Association.
Mind you, Teahan isn't exactly a rookie when it comes to officiating at national league level.
He was, in fact, the youngest-ever person to reach that status when he made his NBL refereeing debut as a 20-year-old in the 1996-97 season while resident in Napier but two seasons later he decided to give it a break, and this year will be his first on the comeback trail.
"I had been reffing since I was 15 and I guess it was time to do something else," Teahan said in explaining his earlier decision to call it quits.
It was only last year, in fact, that Teahan gave any serious thought to refereeing again in the NBL.
He controlled matches at the national secondary schools tournament and in the national open divisional tourney and was told by the refereeing hierarchy that if was prepared to work on his fitness he would be considered for NBL games this season.
It was a challenge which prompted Teahan to get himself into the required shape and he is looking forward to his return to the big time.
Interestingly enough the Palmerston North Jets and Wellington Saints match which Teahan and Thackray will control on March 14 will be only the second game in which they have been on court together, the first coming at a tourney played in Masterton last year.
They will, however, have a third referee with them as well, the biggest change in refereeing since Teahan last controlled an NBL game. He said it was something which took some getting used to in terms of individual court coverage but reffing seven matches in the Blitz pre-season tourney in Wellington over the weekend had been a big help in enhancing his knowledge in that regard.
Meanwhile, on the Wairarapa front Teahan has revealed plans for an adult league to be staged this season with registrations to be taken at an open night to be held soon after Easter weekend. Plans for players to be actually placed into league teams so that talent is as evenly spread as possible. "It's important to make any league as competitive as we can, and that seems to be the best way of doing it," Teahan said.