It was the semifinalmatching UConn and defendingchampion Notre Dame atAmalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.,and Courteau was near thescorers table wearing a headset. Sitting at the bar my wife says, do you see who's at our right? Kantner and Violet Palmer joined the NBA's officiating staff in "Dee did it in a day where I'm sure she didn't have that support.". Looking forward to #6 this year in Tampa Bay. She continued her engineering experience in the sales department for Westinghouse Electric Corporation during the early 1980s and worked in Asheville, North Carolina. In the near two decades she's spent refereeing with the NBA, she has seen her body break down and her ability to keep up with the job's rigorous travel schedule diminish substantially. [7] Before becoming a NCAA Division I referee for the Southern Conference in 1984, Kantner had previously refereed basketball games ranging from elementary school to NCAA Division II. ESPN.com news services. Yet, when each began officiating youth basketball . Officiating is ostensibly the main subject, and certainly a common thread. Before she was hired by the NBA, Kantner was the supervisor of "I knew I had a job to do, and I was going to do it," she said. [16] After leaving the NBA, she continued to work in the WNBA as the Director of Referee Development from 2002 to 2004 and was renamed Supervisor of Officials in 2004. She was like, Oh,Terry, youve got to listen to this!, As Courteau raved, shecontinued highlighting passages. [15] At individual events, Kantner was a referee during the National Sports Festival held in 1991. She wanted the public to focus on her performance on the court over anything else. Dee Kantner (born 1961) is a womens basketball referee for the National Collegiate Athletic Association. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. I was grabbing a D&D coffee on the main rt from 84 down to Storrs, really early for one of the big hm games a few years ago. Kantner started with the Southern Conference before appearing in the Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference throughout the 1990s. Hi all. 31 May 1997 Once Upon a Matress, closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 187 performances. Dee Kantner goes through video clip during orientation training. It was a ND game. She spent the majority of her life training and teaching and identifying young officials shedeveloped. Sago, Holtkamp-Sterling, Schroeder and Moyer-Gleich were all on-hand in Clearwater, Florida to celebrate Sago's 30th birthday a couple summers ago (Jelks wasn't yet a full-time official). After leaving the NBA, she continued to work in the WNBA as the Director of Referee Development from 2002 to 2004 and was renamed Supervisor of Officials in 2004. Weve talked about itand we said Im better becauseof her and shes better becauseof me.. She is a member of famous with the age 61 years old group. Routing for Jeff and his girls. She said it wasn't until 2007 that she finally shared her "secret" with her fellow referees. I said, Hey, areyou going to take care of yourcrew? She said yes, and goesout. She had a conversationwith the parent as the gamewas going on and she providedemotional support, which Ithink the parent was trying todo, but in a real inappropriateway. Smart. Are we good? Last modified on Tue 28 Nov 2017 22.20 EST. "She'll always say, if I did it, you can do it. Eventually, it's going to catch up with you. With the NCAA, Kantner has refereed for various Final Four and championship games in women's basketball. She's . We end up chatting with her and another ref who will work the Duke/ND game on Sat. I get up, I go behindthe scorers table, the gamesgoing on and Im heading intothe locker room and there isLisa Jones. You can scroll down for information about her Social media profiles. I have always been protective about the media.. (Prior to entering the league, Palmer worked as a referee in NCAA Division I women's basketball.) Nine minutes in, she blew her whistle when a ball was deflected out of bounds. When we see three females working the G League together, we're empowered, we're inspired. With the NCAA, Kantner has been a referee in over twenty Final Four rounds and over ten championship games in womens basketball. I'm a relatively new Boneyard member. Jul 2018 - Present4 years 8 months. "Dee has been terminated,'' NBA vice president of basketball Title IX also made it better for Kantner and other women in athletics. One of the first two women hired to officiate in the NBA, she describes what it's like to keep up with some of America's fastest athletes and how the most devastating moment in her career taught her to persevere. No. Violet and I were the first ones hired by the NBA. All the components were inplace for Courteau to becomethe mover and shaker theofficiating world is thankingtoday. progress in her own development and sometimes a change is needed. There were five sisters inthe Greek family and, of course,they had many cousins andkids. Shes a doer, not justa leader.. Violet Palmer came into the NBA as something of a trailblazer and pioneer, as she and Dee Kantner became the league's first ever female referees upon their arrival in 1997. One year earlier, one of the most decorated and respected officials in the history of womens basketball had to be convinced to become the NCAA national coordinator of womens basketball officiating. of officials, staff observers and coaches and general managers. Decided to get a bite to eat and a drink at a local establishment. While the Board brings a diversity of experiences and backgrounds, they all share one . Lauren Holtkamp-Sterling remembers feeling vulnerable, but not intimidated. 8 ejected after UK-Florida scuffle at SEC tourney, American Diggins wins gold in cross country skiing, NWSL's Pride change shorts over period concerns, Serrano injured; rematch with Taylor postponed, Auriemma critical of 'selfish' Huskies after finale, French FA chief resigns amid series of scandals. Convinced that she was a victim of sex discrimination, she sued the league. She is the one who wrotethe book on Officiating 101, in myopinion. "I'll prove myself amongst them, so they'll look at me as just a referee," Palmer said of her mindset at the time. There seemed to be quite a gap after they hired Violet and me. "We are a very empowered group of women," Jelks said. Inthe Big Ten, they would hirea standby in case somebodywent down. officials for the WNBA. Both It put tears in her eyes "that someone would actually put me in that class of people." He would do the dishes. As a proud Black and LGBTQ woman, Palmer especially was a barrier-breaker in more ways than one. Its at least trying to establish that two-way relationship. These were different times. "And it's even better when the things they see are possible look like them.". Paul Kantner, founding member, guitarist and singer for Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson . Dee Kantner was born on 1961 in Reading, Pennsylvania, United States, is a NCAA referee. The names she's invoking are Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner, the first full-time women referees to ever work in the NBA. Her first regular season game as an NBA referee was in November 1997 during a match between the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers. It started inSt. Paul, where she was bornSept. 18, 1948, the fourth childof Don and Helen Courteau. It's needed that we strengthen each other emotionally, and just have that good support team.". We're having a ball. Could she be difficult? Her late fathers words have resonated within Courteau since. Decided to get a bite to eat and a drink at a local establishment. Both my mom and aunt were very athletic and they were our coaches. Referee Dee Kantner can't believe the NBA fired her. Simone Jelks, the first Black woman hired in this role since Palmer herself, was also one of several women to attend Palmer's yearly refereeing camps before reaching the NBA level (such camps are common in the refereeing world, both for development and scouting; Palmer's is open to all collegiate officials). I hated cross country.. Jan. 28, 2016 Updated: Jan. 29, 2016 7:04 a.m. 173. "She taught me how to carry myself, how to be comfortable being the only woman in the room all the time. On October 31, 1997, with her heart pumping, hands sweating, and the eyes of the entire world upon her, Violet Palmer stepped onto the basketball court at a game between the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Dallas Mavericks. "My brother . January 29, 2016. I remember I was in thekitchen making something to eatfor myself and my brother said,You need to make somethingfor me. And I said, Excuse me?He said, Youre the girl. And Isaid, Boy, theres no way youregetting anything from me!. Her first regular season game as an NBA referee was in November 1997 during a match between the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers. Your choice. He said,OK, June, I got it.. She found it at Comerica Park. Homepage image via Flickr user Keith Allison. There aren't many great answers for why 17 years passed between women being hired, for instance, although it's understandable why those at the top of today's league prefer to look forward. She also appeared at the 1998 FIBA World Championship for Women and the 2000 Summer Olympics as a referee. Menu. She couldn't have been any more pleasant. Popularly known as the Referee of United States of America. Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2020-2021. Marcy Weston - Served as the NCAA women's basketball rules editor, clinician and officiated the first women's Final Four in 1982. . We're having a ball. But in 1997, the NBA world was a much different place for Violet Palmer who along with Dee Kantner became the first women referees in league history. Skype chats gave way to lengthy group texts, including several that persist to this day. Its something we as a society dont stress enough, history and the people who came before us and made it better for us.. Dee is currently serving as Vice President, a great role for someone with a heart as big as Dee's. Several years ago, she joined the Board and quickly worked to galvanize women's basketball officials . So you tell me how many conversations are about notes and plays and rules and situations.. Dee Kantner has a net worth of $5.00 million (Estimated) which she earned from her occupation as Referee. "I see little girls sitting courtside, parents asking me to take a picture with their little daughter," Moyer-Gleich said. The land Cafe Stella sits on -- the Sunset Junction shopping complex, with its famous arrow sign -- belongs to an LLC that's registered to Kantner and his wife, Christine. Sitting at the bar my wife says, do you see who's at our right? Its a relationship thatendured for Courteau andDahlem, who make their homein Centerville, Minn., just 21miles from where Courteau wasraised. At the end of last season, the league had 59 referees on staff. At the time, she was part of the first-ever "major college men's game" to only have women referees alongside Patty Broderick and June Corteau. My mother said I had to stop when I was 14 because they were tackling me. Sun 31 Jan 2016 11.19 EST. Everything we send is officiating specific because that's all we do. He previously worked at the Standard-Speaker in Hazleton, where he was raised. And not everyone was comfortable. I said, Gina, youre goingin. We are most grateful for the true pioneers who stepped into the Title IX era. She was thereorganizing. I would love for you guys to be a part of it.' Over the course of the three-day camp, the staff evaluated game footage, and tested (written, video, and . Schroeder said she'd love to see her daughter take up officiating when she grows up -- although she joked her wife, Anderson, may represent the more lucrative career path as a physician. Areas like these come to the forefront as the NBA continues to strive for an earned reputation as a progressive organization. I remember Jamelle {Elliott] and Carla [Berube] holdin , money, salary, income, and assets. 2:39. That came in 1989 whenshe met Dahlem before a gameat the University of Minnesota. I remember being in thelocker room after a game witha basketball crew and afterthe critique, we talked abouteveryones next assignment. These goals are attainable now in ways they just couldn't have been even a generation prior. 29 May 1997 Jesse Timmedequas, found guilty of rape / murder of Megan Kanka, 7. To its credit, the NBA hasn't been satisfied at simply hitting numerical targets for the sake of appearance -- although no one's saying it's been perfect, either. with her. "Can't pat them on the butt anymore," Michael Jordan told the Chicago Tribune upon learning of her hiring. She remembers the days when she was the one girl who would play football and basketball with boys on the playground before high school. Iwas a young official back inthe days when Division I wasworking two-person crews. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. She was the main speaker Wednesday night at the Berks County Chapter of the Hall of Fame Scholarship Dinner at Green Valley. "It's needed for women in this industry that already have a lot of things going against them. The approval of her peers in the officiating world. Even in her earliest years, Courteau had a way of controlling games and not backing down from coaches who clearly tried to intimidate her. Twenty-four of the G League's 57 referees are women, plus several who jump between the NBA and G League (all NBA officials with under four years of experience are commonly assigned as crew chief for G League games to gain experience); 15 of the WNBA's 33 referees are women, nine of whom also work games in the G League. The hiring of Holtkamp-Sterling (the "Sterling" comes from Jonathan, her husband and fellow NBA referee) was a first domino of sorts with Silver's modern NBA, after almost two decades of no upward movement for women referees. "I said to the guys: 'You can curse! 26-year-old social media star Ari Fletcher is still getting slammed with backlash following her disparaging remarks about victims of domestic violence. Jelks describes people telling her that their daughters tune into NBA games she works and won't even focus on the players; their eyes only on her. During her time with the NBA, she was the Supervisor of Officials for the Womens National Basketball Association from 1997 to 1998. So I thinkyoure going to be all right., Since the age of 24, and Im now 59, June and I have talked basketball almost every day. Still, there's unanimous agreement that without the groundwork laid by the two trendsetters before them, the path would have been rockier. Captaincy chaos and Waldrum ultimatums - Will Nigeria be ready for World Cup?