Warren Poncsak was a long-time referee and evaluator in Saskatchewan and across Canada. After playing for the University of Regina from 1980-85, Warren took up refereeing basketball where his basketball IQ and understanding of the game allowed him to be assigned to referee university and senior-level basketball very early in his career. He refereed for 36 years, 32 of which were at the U Sport level. Warren was assigned to many U Sport Men’s and Women’s National Championships and as well as the U19 Men’s Championship in Kelowna and the 2005 Canada Summer Games in Regina where he was assigned to the Boy’s Gold Medal Game.
Warren served on the SABO executive as President and Provincial Interpreter and has held numerous positions on the Regina Association of Basketball Officials (RABO) executive, including President and Referee in Chief. Warren’s true passion was working with and instructing new and developing referees. Warren was a gifted clinician and camp instructor, having worked at clinics and camps from coast to coast and even in the Northwest Territories.
Nationally Warren was a member of the National Evaluation Panel and a certified National Referee Coach. He has been assigned as a Referee Coach to numerous U15 & U17 National Championships as well as CCAA and U Sport Men’s and Women’s Championships.
Warren passed away on July 13, 2021, at the age of 59. At the time of his death, Warren was an active member of SBOC, CEBL and Canada West Officiating Panels.
Award Criteria
- Funding is available to officials who attend a Basketball Officials Development Camp or a Referee Training Clinic in a given year, where the primary purpose of the camp or clinic is learning and development, training, as opposed to a “hiring camp” such as those run by a professional league.
- An official may apply to recover up to 50% of their cost to attend the Basketball Officials Development Camp or a Referee Training Clinic. Costs included in the calculation are the enrollment fee, travel to the camp/clinic if in another City at least 100km from home and accommodation while at the camp/clinic. The minimum available to a successful applicant would be $100 and the maximum available to any one official would be $500. The maximum available to all officials from the same Province would be $500.
- Preference will be given to camps using FIBA rules for play and instructing in FIBA philosophy, floor positioning and mechanics.
- Recipients may receive a payment in more than one year, to a maximum of 3 years in a given 5-year period. The focus shall be on officials identified as being in the High-Performance Pathway or in their first 3 seasons as an official with potential recognized at the local level.
- A list of historic Recipients is maintained by CBOC / CB and the list of Recipients for the current and previous 2 years will me made publicly available through the CBOC website.
Selection Process
Nominations for this award can be made by any member of CBOC but must be endorsed by a provincial board or commission. Please submit the CBOC Award Application along with any additional supporting documents to James Buhlman, CB Manager, Officials Development at jbuhlman@basketball.ca no later than Wednesday, March 1, 2023