Message from Susan   •    The 411

Event Calendar   •    Inspirational Vitamin

Message from Susan

Ladies of DBOA, Welcome to the 2008-2009 basketball season! My name is Susan Hunter and I am honored to serve as your representative for the current season. My purpose is to be an encourager and help each of you become better officials with each game. The challenge for each one of us is to set goals for the coming season and evaluate every area in which we can improve upon personally and professionally and implement those changes. Always keep in mind, you can have a great official with a bad attitude and they will not improve, but there can be an average official with a great attitude and it makes them exponentially an excellent official.

Successful officials are like successful business leaders. Both have a role in a large organization. Both see the organization in a holistic manner, taking a wide-angle view. Both realize they are but one component of the business (game) and their role is to promote a stable and nurturing environment where employees (players) can perform and middle management (coaches) can be effective.

No one becomes a successful official overnight. It’s a process, rather like traveling on a long journey; it will take one person a little bit longer to reach a chosen destination than another. That’s fine, because officiating success is a road that is always under construction.

In his book The Greatest Salesman in the World, Og Mandino says: “The prizes of life are at the end of each journey, not near the beginning; and it is not given to us to know how many steps are necessary in order to reach your goal. Failure I may still encounter at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next bend in the road. Never will I know how close it lies unless I turn the corner. A person should not allow any day to end with a failure.”

There’s a clear parallel in officiating. Satisfaction comes only at the end of a game, at the end of a season, not near the beginning. You might kick a play with a minute left, but that does not stop you from making the critical, correct decision at the buzzer. Only your attitude can make your performance substandard. Success is far more attitude than aptitude, and of all things you wear, your expression is paramount.

Some people become obsessed with the idea that there is a secret shared by those who achieve success. They may devote years to study and research, carefully inspecting and dissecting the biographies of men and women who have achieved success. They learn too late that success is defined in only two words, and those two words will separate them from so many other people. The words “I will,” spoken and modeled with enthusiasm, are the cornerstone of any successful endeavor. (Dr. Ed Hightower (DD, Education, St. Louis Univ.) is Superintendent of Schools in Edwardsville, Ill. A basketball referee since 1972, he has worked 10 NCAA Division I Final Four assignments. Dr. Hightower is a member of the ESO Basketball Education Panel.)

Let us look how we can make DBOA holistically better, while growing as better basketball officials.

Enthusiastically,
Susan D. Hunter

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the 411

The 411 is a blog just for the ladies of the DBOA. We can discuss whatever we want. In this forum, we can share our successes, triumphs, and victories, and provide words of encouragement and support in times of need. Here we can announce an important milestone like birthdays and anniversaries or plan our next informal gathering. In The 411, we can discuss what's hot and what's not on and off the court. Information and knowledge sharing is our primary goal. The 411 is just a convenient and fun way to stay connected.

As of now, The 411 is open to the public ... anyone can post a comment, so let's keep it clean. If you want to post a discussion topic, send it to the411blog@dallasref.com: put "Discussion Topic" in the subject line. To maintain the integrity of the blog, please post your name with your comment, i.e., do not post a comment anonymously. Within the next few weeks, each DBOA female official will receive a formal invitation to the blog. Thereafter, The 411 will be accessible by acceptance of the invitation only. More details to follow.

To access The 411, type DBOALadies.blogspot.com as the URL or click the The 411 button.

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Events Calendar

To add an event of interest to the DBOA Ladies calendar, please send email with event details to dboa.ladies@dallasref.com and put "Add to Event Calendar" in the subject line.

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Inspirational Vitamin

Why Storms?

Job 23:8-10
8 "Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
9 When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.
10 "But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

Storms never come without cause. They come to teach us, show us, or sometimes punish us, but always that God may get the glory. Storms often come to destroy, not necessarily destroying stuff or relationships, but rather habits, attitudes, or ungodly behavior. Your storms should also bring questions. One in particular is that of "Lord, what is it that you would have me to get or understand in this?".

Storms often come as a surprise. We don't always see them brewing. Oh but God knows all! He also knows just how much you can bare. God knows just how much pressure to apply to break that habit or prideful spirit without breaking you. God is so good. And just as suddenly as the storm rolled in with one word from God, it is over. Look at Mark 4:35-41. It tells us here that the Lord spoke to the winds and the waves and they obeyed! They had to .. He (Jesus) is after all Lord of all. Not some, but all.

Now don't get in a rush to get out. Look that storm in the eye, the center, or rather the heart of it, and get what God is giving. Believe it or not, your storms bring something valuable. It does. What you ask? You .. a better, stronger, wiser, and more valuable you! But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. (Job 23:10 NAS)

So when your storm comes, don't get an umbrella, but grow wings and soar. Wings are sprouted through faith in God. Trust Him so that after the storm has passed, you can live your life like it's Golden.

** Source: "Morning Coffee 140", Morning Coffee with Lady Terrie, Terrie Williams, 2008

To contribute an inspirational vitamin to this page, please send an email to dboa.ladies@dallasref.com and put "IV Submission" in the subject line.

Inspirational Vitamin Archives

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