Canada’s Joanna Wiegers officiates at wheelchair basketball world championships for first time

OTTAWA – There’s no doubt officiating is a big part of Joanna Wiegers’s life. This week, she is a referee at the wheelchair basketball world championships for the first time.

As she enters the mixed zone – the area where interviews take place after games – she politely greets the reporter and says, “you’ve got five minutes.”  

Wiegers doesn’t want to miss her ride back to the hotel after officiating the last game on Saturday evening at TD Place.

When the interview starts though, the former corrections officer turns on the charm, answering with warmth and a smile.

The only indication she just ran about six kilometres up and down the floor with her brain on maximum charge for 40 straight minutes are some beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

Wiegers has just concluded officiating a men’s game between Japan and Spain on Saturday, her second of the tournament. She made her worlds debut on Thursday.

‘’It’s my first world championship ever and having this in Canada means so much,’’ said Wiegers, who was born in the Philippines and moved to Edmonton at age 10. ‘’The last two games have been really a good experience for me, and watching a lot of the other referees is an amazing feeling.’’

Wiegers and Sebastien Gauthier are the two Canadians among 31 referees at these championships who will officiate 94 games.

‘’This is the best of the best,’’ said Wiegers, who also has officiated wheelchair basketball at the Commonwealth Games as well as the past three seasons of the CEBL, Canada’s pro basketball league.

‘’We know that everybody has worked hard and deserves to be here.  We expect that the competition is going to be big, and it’s always going to be a battle every time.’’

Returning home after teaching English in South Korea, Wiegers was introduced to the officiating family when she started to play in a rec league for former university players.

During a game, she had an exchange with an official and that referee said she should try it herself.

“I actually started with wheelchair before I did able-bodied, which is usually backwards for some people,” said Wiegers, who grew up playing the game avidly. “And then I just fell in love with the community and the amount of experiences and travel I got to do, so I stuck with it.”

Wiegers admits she’s extra motivated by the presence of more and more female referees in North American pro sports. It is not unusual anymore to see women in striped uniforms in the NBA, CFL and NFL. Women are also slowly making inroads in Major League Baseball.

“I want to be able to inspire other females to be able to do officiating and have the confidence on the floor when they’re there,” Wiegers said. “Male, female, it doesn’t matter as long as you have the knowledge base and the rule knowledge and the discipline to be an official. You can officiate any of these games.

‘’It takes a lot of hard work off the court to get to this level. It’s not just on the court. It’s the things that you do, as far as preparation, mental preparation, physical preparation, and also just watching game film and being able to see the other teams especially when you don’t see them often in your own country.’’

But she doesn’t have dreams of one day officiating in the NBA although she’s had her share of chirping or comments from the playing field.

“The players and coaches are passionate about what their teams are doing,” she said. “Sometimes it comes out as an exaggerated passion. In every single sport, doesn’t matter if it’s basketball or wheelchair basketball, or any sport, passion is always there.

“They’re competitive players, coaches, and they work hard to get to these competitions.”

Wiegers worked for 20 years in correctional services in Alberta and is now taking her master’s degree in technical leadership and high-performance coaching.

“I’ve transitioned a little bit into coaching as well as officiating at a high level,” she said proudly. “I want to balance both and maybe utilize it for other opportunities.”

As the interview ends, the recording marks 6:03. Thankfully Wiegers makes her transport back to the hotel for a well-deserved rest.