Journey for Equality Continues for Female Contest Officials

Growing up in suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, June Courteau was excited to participate in her first formalized physical education class. She was a middle schooler then and eager to run, jump, dribble and shoot a basketball like she had learned with the neighborhood kids. Filled with anticipation the first time she received the basketball in her hands, she wheeled and headed downcourt, her eyes focused on scoring – what was in her mind – a landmark basket.

Three dribbles into her blaze of glory, the shrill sound of a whistle stopped her suddenly. She was told by the instructor that only three dribbles were permitted. Courteau began complaining before bellowing, “That is a stupid rule.”

It was one she didn’t know. In 1961, a three-bounce dribble was adopted in girls basketball. Five years later, an unlimited dribble was introduced.

Decades later, the memory is still fresh. “You had to fight all of the fights when it came to athletics,” Courteau said.

While the incident wasn’t the magic moment that would pave the way to a hall of fame officiating and administrative career that would span 51 years, it did trigger a thirst for rules knowledge, analysis of their application and a deeper understanding and appreciation of mechanics when she ultimately did answer the call to become an official in 1968 at the age of 20.

As the 50th anniversary of Title IX approaches, Courteau is a central figure in the journey of increased opportunities and equity through officiating for females as she became one of the nation’s most recognized and iconic leaders.

“I’ve been called a pioneer and I am proud to be a part of that pioneering path, but I am not alone,” she said. “There are many that came before me that helped create opportunities for me and others now today.”

Celebrating the 50-year mark of the passage of Title IX, the landmark federal legislation that created equitable opportunities, has stirred memories for many of the journeys through officiating. Pinpointing when females began officiating is cloudy at best based on analysis of history books.

In 1891, Dr. James Naismith created the game of basketball with male students in mind. During that era, girls and women had other “sport” offerings that included archery, bicycling, fencing, golf, ice skating, riding horses, roller skating and tennis. According to “Daughters of the Game,” a look at the history of girls basketball in Minnesota, just weeks after the game of basketball was created, a group of women from a nearby elementary school asked for permission to watch the men play this new game.

Dr. Naismith was quick to agree and made arrangements for them to watch. Women were later permitted to play and did so wearing high-button shoes, corsets, and long-sleeved, full-length dresses. Later, bloomers were worn under shorter dresses. It was apparel that allowed girls and women to participate more freely. One of the first women players was Maude Sherman, who later would become Dr. Naismith’s wife.

So, who presided over the games and administered the rules to promote fair play? In the first guidelines of the game, all rules pertaining to officials refer to “he” or “him.”

The first female official might have been Senda Berenson Abbott, an inductee in the inaugural class of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. One century earlier, Berenson Abbott was the first to introduce and adapt rules for women’s basketball at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, just 19 miles north from where Dr. Naismith first did so in Springfield. Berenson Abbott would continue to edit and publish rules for the next 18 years.

In Minnesota, one of the earliest mentions of a female official is Gertrude Zeibarth Bloom, a physical education teacher who received her training at the LaCrosse (Wisconsin) Teachers College, the University of Minnesota and later in California, when she earned a doctorate. From 1926 to 1928, she coached girls basketball at Park Rapids High School in northwestern Minnesota and was also a member of the State Referee Association.

An entry in the Proctor (Minnesota) yearbook during the 1922 girls basketball season notes that: “The 1922 season opened with a pep banquet with a toastmistress and the season was underway. The first game was played against Carlton at Proctor. Coach Gillesby was the referee. The next game was with (Duluth) Cathedral with Miss Allen of Superior (Wisconsin) as referee. Proctor won, 12-3.”

Fast-forward many decades and it is easy to trace the lineage of female officials. All began their officiating journeys at the high school level, and many progressed to breaking barriers at the collegiate and professional levels. The sparse number of female officials at the time created a fast track for the elite-level individuals.

Among them:

• June Courteau – One of the nation’s most decorated and respected officials in the history of women’s basketball.

• Darlene May – Recognized internationally as one of the best female officials of all time. Worked the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and, in 1977, was the first female to officiate an international men’s game. She was also a championship coach at Cal-Poly Pomona.

• Violet Palmer – In 1997, became the first female to officiate a major American men’s professional sports league.

• Dee Kantner – Along with Palmer, one of the first two females to officiate in the NBA.

• Marcy Weston – Served as the NCAA women’s basketball rules editor, clinician and officiated the first women’s Final Four in 1982.

• Sarah Thomas – The first female official to work an NFL game.

• Heather McDaniel – The first female to officiate an NHL game in 1995, but worked just one game because of pregnancy.

But the journey was never a smooth one as female officials blazed new trails while Title IX was in its infancy and in the years to follow. Breaking barriers, receiving equal accommodations, evening the unlevel pay scale would be among the common themes as women in officiating gained strength and momentum.

For Courteau, her career journey had its own share of highs and lows. Her intense interest in officiating took root in college while attending Winona State University. She was pursing a professional career as a teacher because of her love for teaching and communicating. She took an officiating course, got hooked and sought opportunities starting with the intramural program where she worked games and was an assignor.

“I discovered that if you can officiate the men’s faculty games, you can officiate anything,” she said with a laugh. “It was hard work, but a great experience.”

In 1984, Courteau attended a Division I officiating camp in Indiana with 40 participants. Of the group, she was the only female. During classroom sessions, she said, the male officials tended to choose words carefully in her presence while discussing topics which included handling coaches and players. Courteau didn’t want that kind of treatment. She wanted to be treated the same as everyone else at that camp.

“It illustrated what we as females were going through,” said Courteau, who would begin officiating fulltime in 1991. “There was that constant pressure that you were being watched and judged. You had to meet that head on and prove yourself with your work on the floor.”

“I knew perfectly well that women were being scrutinized. When someone said something (negative before a game), I’d reply, ‘You are in for a real treat tonight.”’

While Courteau is grateful for the progress made through Title IX, she says work must continue on behalf of female officials at the high school level.

“What has to work better, especially at the high school level, is we still have a good old boy network,” she said. “Staying longer in the junior varsity game is also important than moving up too quickly. That is a leadership problem.”

Recruitment of female officials, women of color and retaining through mentorships are common goals by state associations across the country. The Minnesota State High School League, for example, has created an Officiating Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council with a focus on recruitment of officials of color and women.

Programs like these are critical to keeping the path that Courteau and others created clear for new officials to find success in officiating.