By KATHRYN BERMINGHAM
ANDREW Cook’s passion is helping others play out theirs.
The Pakenham resident is a passionate referee for local floorball, basketball and netball competitions.
After starting as a referee when he was 12 as a way of earning money, it is now a way of having some fun and learning more about sport.
Andrew enjoys the social interaction that comes with being a referee.
“What I like about reffing is the people,” he said.
“You meet all kinds of people, and they can make a hard day into a great night.”
In his extensive career as a referee, Andrew has witnessed many great acts of sportsmanship. He recalls one particularly memorable occasion.
“The best kind of sportsmanship I have ever seen was in under-nines basketball a few years back, the older boys versus the younger ones,” he said.
“The older boys won the game outright and the younger ones hadn’t scored yet, so in the last five minutes they set up a dice five and let the newer boys go straight through them and take shots. If the ball didn’t go in and the older boys caught the ball they gave it straight back to them to shoot again.
“The adults can learn a lot from the younger kids sometimes.”
Refereeing age groups from under eights right through to adult teams, Andrew also manages to involve himself as a player every week. He finds that playing provides balance and fun in what can be an otherwise busy schedule.
Of the three sports he referees, Andrew says he likes floorball the best, followed by basketball and netball.
His 15 years of experience paid off, with Andrew selected a referee for the Australian Floorball Open grand final in 2006, for a game between Pakenham and the WA Redbacks.
If he could have one message to spectators of sport, it would be a simple one.
“Umpires are humans and we do make mistakes just like players,” he said.
“We do need to think about the next play before that even happens to make sure we call the right call for that game.”
“See you on the court.”
