MORE THAN A WHISTLE STOP
Bailey works about 100 hoops games each year while also mentoring other officials
He came to play basketball, stayed to referee
Happy birthday to one of Regina’s noted whistleblowers!
Ron Bailey, who has been officiating basketball in and around the Queen City for nearly 40 years, turns 63 on Saturday.
At six-foot-six, he is virtually impossible to miss, but his many contributions can be overlooked — largely by design.
A basketball referee, after all, would prefer that the focus be on the game and its participants. The men and women in that role strive to enable the game to move along briskly, without controversy or chaos, and with the utmost fairness.
But there does come a time to accentuate the officials, especially when someone has tirelessly devoted time to the betterment of the sport for several decades.
That someone, in this case, is Bailey. He is always cordial, always fair and, seemingly, always part of the local basketball scene.
In addition to officiating 100 games a season, Bailey mentors up-and-coming officials. Or, he might simply be in the stands, watching a game.
That was the case during the 1983-84 season, when Bailey was in the bleachers at the University of Regina’s old Physical Activity Centre, where the Cougars were playing host to the Lakehead Nor’westers.
Early in the game, one of the officials suffered an injury. A replacement was needed. Bailey was summoned quickly. He completed the game while clad in street clothes.
The next season, he made his debut as a full-time university official, a capacity in which he worked for 31 seasons.
The Cougars were the reason Bailey ventured to Regina, period.
In 1979, then-head coach Gene Rizak of the men’s basketball Cougars scouted Bailey, who was playing at Fanshawe College in London, Ont.
Suitably impressed, Rizak invited Bailey to spend the following season with the Cougars, even though he had only one year of eligibility remaining.
“I thought it would be a one-year gig, coming out here,” reflects Bailey, who was born in Stratford, Ont., and raised in St. Marys, Ont.
“I had never been outside of Ontario. I thought I would come out here for a year and get to see the west.”
And the west — er, rest — is history.
After completing an education degree at the U of R, Bailey began working at the Saskatchewan Boys School — now the Paul Dojack Youth Centre, where he is currently a youth facility worker — and started officiating community basketball.
In 1981, he became a member of the Regina Association of Basketball Officials and debuted in the Regina Intercollegiate Basketball League ranks.
Since that time, he has worn the stripes at basketball games of virtually every description, from high school to senior to university to pro.
The assignments have taken him across Canada and into the United States. Organizers of national championships, such as the U Sports finals and Canada Games, have sought his services and benefited from his expertise.
Visiting university coaches have said hello to Bailey at Regina-based games, expressing their pleasure to see him and their comfort in knowing that, despite his long-standing and once-unanticipated ties to this community, he will be impartial.
When Bailey has hit the road, he invariably has reached the destination — no easy feat, considering the often-harsh Saskatchewan winters.
Memorably, there was one drive from Regina to Winnipeg. By the time he reached Brandon, the roads were treacherous due to a blizzard. Undaunted, he completed what normally would be a two-hour drive in five hours, and made it to a university game a half-hour before tip-off.
Most of the road trips, fortunately, have not been of the white-knuckle variety.
Some of them have been family excursions, including Bailey’s wife (Diane), son (Josh) and daughter (Amanda).
“I have a great spouse and a great family,” Bailey says. “(Officiating requires) a lot of commitment on my part, but they give up a lot to support me and to allow me to do it.”
And he has been doing it for an estimated 4,000 games ... and counting.
“How long do I think I’ll keep doing this? Until the body says, ‘No more,’ ” he says. “I hope I can do it for another five years. I enjoy the camaraderie and I enjoy the sport.
“It has been a lot of fun. I wouldn’t trade it.”
I had never been outside of Ontario. I thought I would come out here for a year and get to see the west.