Palmer and Kantner smashed this barrier; those who came after them are trying to stomp on its remains. "People don't realize how much work it takes," she said. "Dee did it in a day where I'm sure she didn't have that support.". Dee Kantner (born 1961) is a womens basketball referee for the National Collegiate Athletic Association. ", "Refs Of Another Stripe Kantner Makes Fans Of Coaches In Her Inaugural Nba Season", "Smooth sailing for Kantner in her first NBA game", "WNBA Names Dee Kantner Supervisor of Officials", "Professional Basketball: Pitt grad Kantner first woman referee to be fired by NBA", "Mike McGovern: a conversation with NCAA women's basketball official Dee Kantner", "Dee Kantner, Stu Jackson inducted into Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame on 'special' night", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dee_Kantner&oldid=1131653204, This page was last edited on 5 January 2023, at 04:15. Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. The article is made available for educational use by individuals. Also find out how she got rich at the age of 61. She spent the majority of her life training and teaching and identifying young officials shedeveloped. These situations are still presenting themselves, Kantner said, and people still need to give voice to the fact that the inequities still exist. 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. In her era, women were supposed to glisten and not sweat.. The women that are coming on the scene now are helping us -- we're not helping them.". [4] Her first regular season game as an NBA referee was in November 1997 during a match between the Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers. She is from United States. Today, there are a total of five full-time women NBA referees, an all-time league high. She was thereorganizing. I said, Gina, youre goingin. With the NCAA, Kantner has refereed for various Final Four and championship games in womens basketball. Hewould scrub the floor. Dare to Disrupt Aging! Kantner began refereeing while at the University of Pittsburgh. She was the main speaker Wednesday night at the Berks County Chapter of the Hall of Fame Scholarship Dinner at Green Valley. Several of the full-timers are close friends off the court. She rattles off names: Steve Javie, Jack Nies, Billy Oakes, Joey Crawford. These included the Pac-10 Conference and West Coast Conference. I've never gotten any negative vibes regarding my sexuality from the league or the players. Referee Dee Kantner blows her whistle to call a play during the game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers at the STAPLES. Holtkamp-Sterling has become a big sister figure to the other women in the program. "Her advice is always authentic.". Five full-time women in officiating today eclipses the total of the NFL, MLB and NHL combined. Outside of the NCAA, Kantner was one of the first women referees in the National Basketball Association from 1997 to 2002. . Both my mom and aunt were very athletic and they were our coaches. With the NCAA, Kantner has refereed for various Final Four and . "I said to the guys: 'You can curse! There should be more than that, but theyre making progress. When RU was in Portland for the 2000 NCAA regionals, Dee got my wife, myself and 2 other folks tix to the NBA game at the Rose Garden one of the nights we were out there (we paid, she just arranged them, there was a box that appeared to be "guests" of refs and other folks). and has worked NBA Summer League games. But now that Courteau hasopened up, she has a story to tellabout her life that foreshadowedher 43 years of excellence as abasketball official. January 31, 2016 by Howard Mandel. Kantner was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on May 3, 1960 and had three siblings. But Palmer and Kantner's influence on today's generation is immense and undeniable. Theyre taking Michol offand then I blew with my fingersin my mouth and they cameover, Courteau said. Very fun Nite of women's basketball. In 1984, Kantner was an upstartserving a tough, but ultimatelyfulfilling apprenticeship underCourteaus watch, and it startedon a sobering note. He also covers high school baseball, golf, volleyball and bowling and college basketball. Dee Kantner (born 1961) is a women's basketball referee for the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Copyright 2022 Referee Enterprises Inc. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Jul 2018 - Present4 years 8 months. Boston College 62, Georgia Tech 57. . Well, ND certainly didn't look like the #2 team in the country. Referee Dee Kantner: Calling the Shots AARP. Id get asked, Whats wrong with you? Shoot, now I try to wear sleeveless as much as possible,. Referee Dee Kantner can't believe the NBA fired her. She's been the subject of my "Three Blind Mice" chant at times, but I think she's the best one out there. And as a captivated Courteauread Daniel James Browns 2013masterpiece The Boys in the Boatduring that picture-perfect day, she was highlighting numerous passages from Browns stirring account about the University of Washingtons eight-oared crew, comprised of members who had struggled to succeed during the Depression, achieving spectacular success during the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Yet, when each began officiating youth basketball . "I had to have a personal trainer, eat right, and go to physical therapy to continue to be a referee over the course of my career. She also appeared at the 1998 FIBA World Championship for Women and the 2000 Summer Olympics as a referee. 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. Dee Kantner (born May 3, 1960) is a women's basketball referee for the National Collegiate Athletic Association since 1984. There's no jealousy here, no bitterness over an "easier" path faced by today's young women. Were very much like that and I grew up like that. of officials, staff observers and coaches and general managers. Jan. 28, 2016 Updated: Jan. 29, 2016 7:04 a.m. 173. The trick is to findthe few who have the rawpower, superhuman stamina,the indomitable willpower,the intellectual capacitynecessary to master thedetails of technique, butthe most important is theirability to disregard his/herown ambitions, to throw egooverboard and pull, not just foroneself, not just for glory, butfor the crew and for us the game.. Violet Palmer in a still from a recent documentary about her career, 'Queen Vee.' Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer became the first women named to the National Basketball Association's regular season staff of referees on Tuesday. Outside of the NCAA, Kantner was one of the first women referees in the National Basketball Association from 1997 to 2002. Routing for Jeff and his girls. . Kantner was fired in 2002, with Palmer the only female referee for . In 1997 Dee Kantner made history by becoming one of the first female officials in the NBA. Courteauwasnt afraid to speak her mindand she didnt hesitate to dig inwhen it came time to hold herground. [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. During her time with the NBA, she was the Supervisor of Officials for the Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 to 1998. Nine minutes in, she blew her whistle when a ball was deflected out of bounds. "We are a very empowered group of women," Jelks said. Palmer believes it's because the NBA is a diverse organization that pushes for equality on a variety of levels. I look over and see Dee Kantner. The chapter awarded $500 scholarships in memory of longtime sports figure Dr. Richard Flannery to 36 Berks County senior athletes, 18 boys and 18 girls. With the NCAA, Kantner has refereed for various Final Four and championship games since 1992. , money, salary, income, and assets. Success! Once she accepted and Courteaus wife, Teresa Dahlem, deserves a great deal of credit for that this woman committed herself to raise the bar in officiating, just as she has since first pulling on a striped shirt. All parties involved can talk about themes like equality until they're blue in the face, but the truest mark of that state is actually when it's not a constant discussion topic. NEW YORK -- Dee Kantner, one of the NBA's two female Title IX also made it better for Kantner and other women in athletics. Obviously, she is the best teacherand trainer in the country in the past,present and future that there couldpossibly be. Rod Thorn, the NBA's senior vice president of basketball operations at the time, told the Washington Post in 1997 that Palmer's being chosen to officiate first was the "luck of the draw." I was tough, she said. The setting was a local recreation center in her home state of Missouri, where she'd previously played four years of college basketball at Drury University before becoming a referee. We're having a ball. In that moment, history was made: Palmer became the first woman ever to referee a game in a major American men's professional sports league. And as the first to reach this plateau since, she's turned around and served a similarly important role for those following her. One example was around1996 when Courteau served asDahlems assistant coach for theHastings (Minn.) High Schoolgirls volleyball team. Kantner was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. [4], While at the University of Pittsburgh in 1982, Kantner became a referee at basketball games for churches. "This isn't, 'Let's go out and do social work,'" Monty McCutchen, NBA's vice president of referee development and training, said. Andy isin my ear about something andhe was going on and on. His most prominent works are "Ordinary Wolves", "Swallowed by the Great Land: And Other Dispatches From Alaska's Frontier", "Shopping for Porcupine: A Life in Arctic Alaska" and "Pup and Pokey". And whenshe talked, you listened. Just ask Dee Kantner,who worked the NCAA nationalchampionship game in April. ", This doesn't mean she hasn't faced intense scrutiny for her gender over the years. It's a first since 1997 when women began as referees, with Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer becoming the first full-time referees. "Dee has been terminated,'' NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson said. Im just asking questions.They would roll their eyes andgo, Oh my God! Ive alwaysbeen like that. Homepage image via Flickr user Keith Allison. We met throughbasketball, Dahlem said. Ashley Moyer-Gleich, 33, a former Millersville University college basketball player who debuted as a full-time NBA referee in 2018 after working in the WNBA, took years of mentorship from Kantner; both are from cities within an hour of each other in Pennsylvania. "They say I'm the sixth female referee in the NBA," said Schroeder, the sixth woman officially hired as a full-time NBA referee. Equal Pay College Referees Basketball FILE - Referee Dee Kantner works in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game between Tennessee and Vanderbilt Monday, Jan. 5, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn. Kantner, a veteran referee of women's games who works for multiple conferences, finds it frustrating to have to justify equal pay. [14] During her time with the NBA, she was the Supervisor of Officials for the Women's National Basketball Association from 1997 to 1998. The 1997 Naismith Award winner as the women's basketball official of the year, Dee Kantner has officiated every NCAA Tournament since 1992. I grew up watching her.". It would quickly give way not only to an increase in gender diversity among officials, but to an inspiring tale of women empowerment and mentorship at the highest levels of a traditionally male field -- one full of locker room anecdotes, weekly Skype chats, group birthday vacations and a number of challenges. We're having a ball. "Middle child" is perhaps more fitting; as the only one of the five, current full-time women in the league with a direct connection to the Palmer/Kantner days. That came in 1989 whenshe met Dahlem before a gameat the University of Minnesota. Kay Yow Cancer Fund. She heard whispers from some corners of the sport. Because I've seen it done before.". She remained with the NBA as a referee until 2002. Where would I be without it? What has Courteaurepresented as nationalcoordinator? Yesterday, a Federal jury in Manhattan agreed, finding that the league had denied her a job because she was a woman and . "And I say that very positively. Mr. Kantner, a founding member of the Jefferson . -Geno Auriemma. 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. Please try again. I openedthe door and this is going tosound real hokey, but it wasliterally love at first sight. They're just talking about something they're uncomfortable with.". "Being able to see myself in them -- they trailblazed that.". "I always had that mentor, a role model on how to be successful in a male-dominated field," Schroeder said. And to the people who run the NBA's officiating program, efforts in recent years to open recruiting pathways and increase diversity are far from merely symbolic: They're practical for a league always striving to improve. Dee Kantners income source is mostly from being a successful . She couldn't have been any more pleasant. ''I am, you're not,'' she said. Jurgen Kantner and his wife Sabine Merz (file picture) were both killed. Shemarked, Good crews are blends ofpersonalities; someone to lead thecharge, someone to hold somethingin reserve; someone to pick a fight,someone to make peace; someoneto think things through, someone tocharge ahead without thinking somehow, all this must mesh. AndCourteau also highlighted the passage,If you dont like some person in theboat, you have to learn to like them. "I'll prove myself amongst them, so they'll look at me as just a referee," Palmer said of her mindset at the time. "Can't pat them on the butt anymore," Michael Jordan told the Chicago Tribune upon learning of her hiring. Still, there's unanimous agreement that without the groundwork laid by the two trendsetters before them, the path would have been rockier. Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2020-2021. I know these kids didnt know Doc, Kantner said. During her time with the NBA, she was the Supervisor of Officials for the Womens National Basketball Association from 1997 to 1998. Kantner spent her childhood in Reading, Pennsylvania. She was like, Oh,Terry, youve got to listen to this!, As Courteau raved, shecontinued highlighting passages. 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). "And it's even better when the things they see are possible look like them.". We end up chatting with her and another ref who will work the Duke/ND game on Sat. They just see you put on a shirt, referee, and that's it. "I'm completely stunned," Kantner told the Bee from her home in Charlotte, N.C. "I had no idea I was in trouble. referees, has been fired, the NBA said Monday. Since Holtkamp-Sterling, four more women have been hired as full-time NBA referees. "Once [my peers] saw that I was about the business and the work and wanting to learn the craft, they were more than willing to open themselves up to teach me.". We were at the great Louisville vs UNC game tonite. Share on Facebook; Tweet this video Dee Kantner has an interesting view of the basketball court. 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. You can talk about the girl in the fifth row with the big ta-tas! Discover today's celebrity birthdays and explore famous people who share your birthday. Referee data is available for the 1988-89 through 2022-23 seasons. Consider a theme like locker rooms. She also appeared at the 1998 FIBA World Championship for Women and the 2000 Summer Olympics as a referee. At individual events, Kantner was a referee at the National Sports Festival in 1991 and the 2000 Summer Olympics. The initial inspirationcame from her parents and thereis one memory with her fatherCourteau recalls that causes hervoice to crack with emotion. They were audible conversations for Palmer and Kantner, and sometimes more. 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