The Crown Refs Podcast

It's a pleasure to welcome former Olympic official Scott Butler, who had a 22-year professional career in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL), working over 500 games including 12 consecutive grand finals series. ⁣ ⁣ His FIBA career dates back to 1997 as he’s officiated multiple World Cups (’06, ‘10) and 2 Olympic games (Athens ‘04, Beijing ‘08). Scott retired from officiating due to a kne...

How would you like to be part of a family-like community of officials who meet weekly to support, develop and empower each other to be great? How would you like to be part of the Crown Refs Officiating Team? How would you like to be featured in our content, help curate topics for our discussions and/or contribute to our podcast? Crown Refs MENTOR will meet weekly on a private discord voice channel...

Crown Refs PLUS features our full library of content including podcasts, and our new catalog of Patreon Original shows and series with never before seen officiating content. Our growing show list includes No Offseason, Through the Lens, Signal School, CR Vlog, Coach D's Court, The Wonderful Women of Officiating, Game Notes, Courtside Conversations, Voices from the Community, Refs Can Ball, The Cam...

Thank you for your continued support and after 159 public episodes of the Audio Experience for Basketball Officials we've taken the Crown Refs Podcast private to this amazing platform for creators called Patreon. Crown Refs PRO unlocks over 40 new podcast episodes and gains you access to future Patron-only episodes that we release (historically 4-5 per month) on Patreon's private RSS feed. This ti...

Will Fried, is entering his 6th-year officiating originally from Bethesda, MD, and currently residing in Hays, Kansas.  He comes to Crown Refs MENTOR with the intentions of growing his officiating skills and becoming part of a supportive community of officials who all route for each other. ⁣ ⁣ Will is looking to improve his confidence, game management skills, mechanics & signals, as well as adding...

We are excited to launch our new private community for officials and our developmental training program called Crown Refs MENTOR. ⁣ ⁣ Adam Zohni is a long-time supporter and passionate 5th-year official from Toronto, CN, who was one of the first officials to sign up for our MENTOR tier.  So after a few years of exchanging messages online, we finally had the opportunity to sit down and meet for our...

𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝘀 is excited to introduce 2 amazing apps to the referee industry, 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣 & 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙, as we launch our new private community for basketball officials. 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗼𝗻 is our versatile content platform that features a wide range of media including over 45 new podcasts, over 85 new videos, and over 12 new shows & series guaranteed to develop & inspire referees who love the craft of officiating.⁣ ⁣ 𝗣...

𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝟯 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙍𝙚𝙛𝙨 𝙋𝙤𝙙𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩!⁣ In Episode One of the Crown Refs Community News Show, Zack, and Paul discuss recent events under the Crown Refs umbrella. Paul speaks on the NBA multiverse poster and its origins, his experiences meeting some of the Crown Community at Roger Ayers’ camp, the brand new Crown Refs Team Store and Zack shares his exper...

We as officials have to start documenting the verbal abuse more often to raise awareness on the issue of disrespect towards officials. ⁣ ⁣ This episode was recorded immediately after we canceled the game because a coach and fan refused to leave the gum following their ejection. ⁣ ⁣ We had a chance to interview the site supervisor to hear his thoughts and reactions to the situation and then had a c...

𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 “𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙒𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙊𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜” 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙖𝙞𝙖 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙠𝙖.⁣ ⁣ Maia recently made national headlines by becoming the second female official hired into the NFL. But her rise to the top did not happen overnight as she steadily grinder her way for 15 years to get to this point.⁣ ⁣ She worked 3 years as a high school official before catapulting directly into the NCAA Division 1 ranks wh...

𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴” 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗮 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝘆.⁣ ⁣ Natasha is a super talented 8-year official from the great city of brotherly love, who is extremely passionate about officiating and giving back to the game.⁣ ⁣ Natasha is no stranger to Division 1 basketball as she was a former player at Widener University from 2006-2010. She’s also officiating in 15 Division 1 confer...

𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴” 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆.⁣ ⁣ Lisa had a brilliant 28-year officiating career that was one for the ages by any account. She posts historic postseason stats that most coaches and even universities will never match. ⁣ ⁣ Lisa took 21 trips to the NCAA tournament including a remarkable 18 Final Fours and 10 NCAA Women’s Championship games. She also w...

𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴” 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗪𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀. Sara Woods is a basketball official from St. Louis, Mo who is currently working amateur, collegiate and semi-pro contests.  She is also the founder Big Game Officials, a training platform empowering referees to set the standard of excellence, while igniting opportunities in basketball officiating.   She recruits and develop...

The Crown Refs Podcast introduces our new series “The Wonderful of Officiating” dedicated to highlighting the amazing accomplishments of the females of our officiating community and some of the great work they're doing both on and off the court.⁣ ⁣ Episode 1 features Chiene’ Joy Jones, a charismatic 3-year official from Queens, NY. Chiene’ is a basketball coach who founded Grow Our Game, a nonprof...

Attached in the Crown Refs IPR is a 10-15 minute instructional mechanics video that we personalize to exceed the needs of each official. ⁣ ⁣ Ken Stewart, a 5-year official from Illinois, decided to record this video in response to his report and we wanted to share his feedback with you.⁣ ⁣ Thank you Ken for your contributions and to all of the referees that continue to support and interact with ou...

Brady Stiff and Kelsey Loughlin are longtime friends who finally decided to record their conversations about sports and everything else and host a podcast called “...And we’re back” available on Spotify/Apple podcasts.⁣ ⁣ They recently had me as a guest on their podcast to talk about my experience with officiating, provide some tips for new officials, dispel some myths about sports officials, and...

In this episode of 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘮 we had the pleasure to record a group conversation with the entire staff of officials who were recently at the House of Sports during the first weekend of AAU games. ⁣ ⁣ Our topics include being confident when admitting you’re wrong, having the guts to play offense on anyone, and dealing with the entitlement of players and coaches. ⁣ ⁣ We also discuss...

𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟭𝟱𝟬 features a diverse range of topics and storylines that I cover with long-time Crown Refs supporter Travis Potter. Travis is a 6-year official and the assistant director of Wellness and Recreation at Stetson University. ⁣ ⁣ 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 he offered his intramural officials an opportunity to earn 15 hours' pay if they listened to 11 signature episodes of our podcast and write a summary on...

In this episode of 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘮 ⁣ we discuss more game management strategies for complaining coaches and how and when you can take advantage of offensive opportunities. ⁣ ⁣ We conclude that officials have historically let coaches get away with too many antics on the sidelines and the lack of sportsmanship has been naturally embedded into the game itself. We also cover unsportsmanlike...

𝙅𝙤𝙝𝙣 𝘾𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 put together one of the most outstanding NCAA officiating careers of all-time both on and off the court. His Division 1 career spans over 30 years in the ACC/Big East/SEC conferences including 26 NCAA tournaments, 12 Final Fours, and 4 National Championship games. ⁣ ⁣ He was the 1989 Naismith Official of the Year and inducted into the sports hall of fame in two states PA/NC.⁣ He al...

With Camp season around the corner, this conversation explores a few integral components of the expectations of an official when attending camps and reffing games in general. ⁣ ⁣ Some of the keys we discussed are how to properly take feedback from observers and better communicate questions to them instead of sounding like a “Yeah but” ref. ⁣ ⁣ We touch on the importance of differentiating between...

𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻 is a 2-year official from Pennsylvania living in New Jersey who’s fell in love with the craft of officiating. He truly inspires to keep improving and reach his full potential as an official.⁣ He’s been working hard these past two seasons trying at improving and chose the Crown Refs IPR as a way to accelerate his growth. ⁣ In this episode of 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴, we discuss simplifying our thoug...

𝗣𝗲𝗱𝗿𝗼 𝗥𝗼𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗝𝗿. has been stung by the officiating bug as his fire and ambition to improve multiplies by the day. ⁣ ⁣ We're proud to have him back for his second Individual•Performance•Report to track his progress, flip the weaknesses into strengths and add more polish to his overall skill set as an official.⁣ ⁣ In this episode of 𝙂𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨, we have an in-depth signal school session, we elabor...

𝗞𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗟𝘂𝗱𝗹𝗼𝘄, is an 8-year official from Pittsburg, IN who has his sights set on one day becoming a full-time Division 1 referee. He’s aggressively attacked the camp scene attending over 15 camps in his career which lead to him continuously moving up the ladder. He’s currently working high school games, NAIA, and at the division 2 & 3 level.⁣ ⁣ In this episode of Game Notes, we discuss a tip for i...

In this episode of Live From: The Locker Room, we share multiple coaching interactions from this past weekend of games. We talk about how to respond to a coach when they yell from across the court, how to show more authority when communicating, and utilizing the extremely effective high school warning.