The face-to-face National Officiating Conference previously planned for 5-7 September will no longer take place following the realignment of the previous NBL1 competition.
We will host at least one face-to-face conference in each region for officials during September which will involve information about how games will operate under the new membership system, PlayHQ, along with online sessions for national referees, table officials, and statisticians throughout the month.
The pre-season officiating conferences are set out to provide vital education and training for officials operating in our competitions with key points of emphasis and learnings from the 2024/25 season.
All officials should attend a Regional Officiating Conference and the supplementary online sessions for their disicipline.
The national referee sessions will take place on Monday 1 and Thursday 4 September.
The national table officials sessions will take place on Tuesday 2 and Wednesday 3 September.
The national statistician sessions will now be delayed and are scheduled to take place week commencing Monday 29 September.
You should attend all sessions in relation to your discipline.
You will receive an email with the meeting link the day before the session.
Referees
Session 1 - IOT & Mechanics - Kate Unsworth - Monday 1 September 19:00-20:00
Session 2 - Communication: When & How? - FIBA - Monday 1 September 20:30-21:30
Session 3 - Game Ready: Season Start Information - Simon Unsworth - Thursday 4 September 19:00-20:00
Session 4 - Play Calling - Neil Wilkinson - Thursday 4 September 20:30-21:30
Table Officials
Session 1 - Game Clock and Shot Clock Scenarios - Mark Patton - Tuesday 2 September 19:00-20:00
Session 2 - Communication: When & How? - Jan Timms - Wednesday 3 September 19:00-20:00
Statisticians
TBC w/c Monday 29 September - FIBA
These sessions are for both referees and table officials.
Face-to-face sessions
Weeknight conferences will run 6-10pm. The North West conference will run 10am-2pm.
Sunday 7 September - North West - Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College, Liverpool - Tom Muddiman & Zoe Silcock
Monday 8 September - North East - Billingham Forum, Stockton-on-Tees - JonPaul Heron & Sally Shillinglaw
Tuesday 9 September - Yorkshire - University of Huddersfield - Kate Unsworth & Claire Ormandy
Wednesday 10 September - East Midlands - Broomfield College, Derby - Martin Ford & Christine Chambers-Desmond
Thursday 11 September - East - HBK Leisure at Hinchingbrook School, Huntingdon - David Griffin & Shaun Williams
Friday 12 September - London (1) - Barking Riverside Campus, Barking - John Letizia & Shaun Williams
Monday 15 September - South East - K2 Crawley - Ian Lester & Shaun Williams
Tuesday 16 September - South - Wellington Health & Fitness Centre, Crowthorne - Ian Lester & Shaun Williams
Wednesday 17 September - London (2) - Ark Soane Academy, Acton - John Letizia & Shaun Williams
Thursday 18 September - South West - Venue TBC - Andy Thackray & Owen Parker
Friday 19 September - West Midlands - University of Wolverhampton, Walsall Campus - Daniel Cox & Shaun Williams
Weekday Agenda
18:00 - Welcome & Introduction (Referees & Table Officials)
18:10 - PlayHQ & Game Day (Referees & Table Officials)
19:00 - Complex Scenarios (Referees & Table Officials)
19:45 - Break
20:00 - Points of Emphasis (Referees & Table Officials)
21:00 - On Court Mechanics (Referees)
21:30 - Fitness Test (Referees)
22:00 - Close
Please note, subject is schedule to change.
North West Agenda
10:00 - Welcome & Introduction (Referees & Table Officials)
10:10 - PlayHQ & Game Day (Referees & Table Officials)
11:00 - Complex Scenarios (Referees & Table Officials)
11:45 - Break
12:00 - Points of Emphasis (Referees & Table Officials)
13:00 - On Court Mechanics (Referees)
13:30 - Fitness Test (Referees)
14:00 - Close
Please note, subject is schedule to change.
NBL referees are expected to run fitness tests at a regional conference. We are not accepting referees running and filming their own fitness tests.
The fitness test is a multi-stage fitness test where you must run 20-metre shuttles at increasing speed following an audio track (which can be found here). If you feel unwell during the fitness test, you must stop. We recommend that you practice the fitness test prior to attending a conference.
We will use Testportal for this year's officiating test. You will be asked 25 questions from the bank of questions that are available below. The test will be based on 2024 OBR v1.0a, 2024 OBRI v1.0a, IOT manual and 2PO/3PO mechanic manuals.
Where not specified in the question, A1 - A5 are the players on the playing court from the offensive team, A6 - A12 are the substitutes or excluded players from the offensive team. B1 - B5 are the players on the playing court from the defensive team, B6 - B12 are the substitutes or excluded players from the defensive team.
The test will be active from Monday 25 August to Sunday 7 September 23:59. For those who need to resit, there will be a resit window. The resit link will be made available on this webpage.
Practice questions are available here.
The referee pre-season test can be taken here.
All referees are expected to attend a regional referee conference and successfully pass the rules test and fitness test to be eligible for games at their competency level. A resit is available for those who are unsuccessful at the rules test but will receive restricted appointments for the first three weeks of the season.
We encourage all table officials and statisticians who wish to officiate in the NBL to sign up for the national conference and take full advantage of the learning that is available.
Appointments to prestigious games will be prioritised for those who attended the National Conference and passed the rules test.
We will use testportal for this year's rules test. You will be asked 25 questions from the bank of questions that are now available below. The test will be based on 2024 OBR v1.0a and 2024 OBRI v1.0a, TOM v6.5, FIBA Statisticians Manual 2024.
Where not specified in the question, A1 - A5 are the players on the playing court from the offensive team, A6 - A12 are the substitutes or excluded players from the offensive team. B1 - B5 are the players on the playing court from the defensive team, B6 - B12 are the substitutes or excluded players from the defensive team.
The test will be active from Monday 25 August to Sunday 7 September 23:59. For those who need to resit, there will be a resit window. The resit link will be made available on this webpage.
Table officials' practice questions are available here.
The table official pre-season test can be taken here.
Statisiticians' practice questions are available here.
The statistician pre-season test can be taken here.
