In the beginning...
My first memories of the Olympic Games are from Barcelona in 1992, sitting in my grandparent's living room way past my bedtime watching an archer light the Olympic flame and cheering for Linford Christie and Sally Gunnell as they won medals for GB.
I wasn't into basketball much at the time - sure, I'd got a ring above the garage door and had been having a go, but the athletics was what I wanted to see. To me, athletics WERE the Olympics; everything else was just a side show.
How wrong I was - little did I know that The Dream Team were making history and my soon-to-be-idols of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan were dismantling teams with confident grins that would make Usain Bolt proud.
It wasn't until the Sydney games of 2000 that I watched some Olympic basketball on TV. Seeing Vince Carter dunk over Freddie Weiss was certainly a highlight, but seeing the reactions of his teammates, in particular Kevin Garnett and Gary Payton, made me realise that this was a defining moment on the international stage and this was a game I wanted to be a part of. (See that Vince Carter dunk here: https://youtu.be/JDywfFAbftw)
The summer of 2000 was also the time I qualified as a wheelchair basketball referee and unwittingly, wheels were set in motion.
Skip forward 12 years to the London games. I didn't watch much of the Olympics since I was away on holiday for most of it, but I was lucky enough to get wheelchair basketball tickets for Day 1 at the Paralympic Park and Day 2 at the North Greenwich Arena, as well as the men's medal matches a week later. Watching it live was a totally different experience to seeing it on TV. What an experience that was. I wanted to be a part of it.
Now it's Rio's turn and I'm back to watching games on TV. Yes, the athletics is impressive. The conclusion of the golf tournament was exciting. The diving pool turning green was amusing (if not a little concerning). But it's the basketball I'm really watching carefully, and not the players.
I'm watching the third team involved - the referees - because in 3 weeks time I will land in Rio de Janeiro to become a Paralympic referee myself, following in the footsteps of a select group of GB referees, including my tutor from 2000, Bob English.
Seeing the venues on TV, listening to the national anthems, seeing the uniforms the nations will wear, how the referees position themselves and how they communicate are all contributing to my preparation for what will be a the highlight of my refereeing career thus far.
As a first-time Paralympic referee, my involvement will end at the conclusion of the group stages and I will return home to my family and regular job (a Primary School teacher). But I will be there. In Rio. At a Paralympic Games. And I can't wait.
But I will have to, for just a bit little longer...
I wasn't into basketball much at the time - sure, I'd got a ring above the garage door and had been having a go, but the athletics was what I wanted to see. To me, athletics WERE the Olympics; everything else was just a side show.
How wrong I was - little did I know that The Dream Team were making history and my soon-to-be-idols of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan were dismantling teams with confident grins that would make Usain Bolt proud.
It wasn't until the Sydney games of 2000 that I watched some Olympic basketball on TV. Seeing Vince Carter dunk over Freddie Weiss was certainly a highlight, but seeing the reactions of his teammates, in particular Kevin Garnett and Gary Payton, made me realise that this was a defining moment on the international stage and this was a game I wanted to be a part of. (See that Vince Carter dunk here: https://youtu.be/JDywfFAbftw)
The summer of 2000 was also the time I qualified as a wheelchair basketball referee and unwittingly, wheels were set in motion.
Skip forward 12 years to the London games. I didn't watch much of the Olympics since I was away on holiday for most of it, but I was lucky enough to get wheelchair basketball tickets for Day 1 at the Paralympic Park and Day 2 at the North Greenwich Arena, as well as the men's medal matches a week later. Watching it live was a totally different experience to seeing it on TV. What an experience that was. I wanted to be a part of it.
Now it's Rio's turn and I'm back to watching games on TV. Yes, the athletics is impressive. The conclusion of the golf tournament was exciting. The diving pool turning green was amusing (if not a little concerning). But it's the basketball I'm really watching carefully, and not the players.
I'm watching the third team involved - the referees - because in 3 weeks time I will land in Rio de Janeiro to become a Paralympic referee myself, following in the footsteps of a select group of GB referees, including my tutor from 2000, Bob English.
Seeing the venues on TV, listening to the national anthems, seeing the uniforms the nations will wear, how the referees position themselves and how they communicate are all contributing to my preparation for what will be a the highlight of my refereeing career thus far.
As a first-time Paralympic referee, my involvement will end at the conclusion of the group stages and I will return home to my family and regular job (a Primary School teacher). But I will be there. In Rio. At a Paralympic Games. And I can't wait.
But I will have to, for just a bit little longer...