{"id":19452,"date":"2022-06-10T10:53:28","date_gmt":"2022-06-10T10:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/ruhamiriza-on-his-refereeing-journey-and-ambition-to-officiate-at-olympics"},"modified":"2022-06-10T11:08:03","modified_gmt":"2022-06-10T11:08:03","slug":"ruhamiriza-on-his-refereeing-journey-and-ambition-to-officiate-at-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/ruhamiriza-on-his-refereeing-journey-and-ambition-to-officiate-at-olympics","title":{"rendered":"Ruhamiriza on his refereeing journey and ambition to officiate at Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza\u2019s passion for basketball was ignited and showcased during his upper high school studies at G.S Kabgayi where he played as a small forward in the second division league.<\/p>\n

With time, however, his playing time declined as the management recruited better players to make the team more competitive. Owing to the changes, he quickly decided to consider a different role within the sport.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old picked interest in refereeing because he didn\u2019t want to stray away from the sport, a move that would later be encouraged by his then school coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that I was getting paid on commission to officiate amateur games was a huge motivating factor,\u201d Ruhamiriza recalled during an interview with Times Sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lucky enough to meet with professional referees due to my school team\u2019s participation in the 2nd division of the national basketball championships,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

During this time, he crossed paths with Stratton Ahimana \u2013 the current President of Rwanda\u2019s Association of Basketball Umpires \u2013 and asked him if he could consider him to be a member of the basketball referees fraternity.<\/p>\n

To his advantage, the insufficiency of skilled game officials in 2008 coupled with the challenge of deployment made easier his entry as a referee at national level.<\/p>\n

In the 2000\u2019s, Rwanda\u2019s Association of Basketball Umpires was still in its infancy, making difficult to prepare and stage training camps for up-and-coming referees.<\/p>\n

The making of the umpire<\/b><\/p>\n

Despite all odds, including missing out on international camps, Ruhamiriza could officiate his first game at the 2017 Fiba Zone V Club Championship in Kampala, Uganda.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first game I handled in that tournament was a men\u2019s game between Kenya Port Authority and Hawasa City of Ethiopia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back, he can\u2019t help but chuckle in self-deprecation as to how nervous he was during the entire game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very nervous during my first game and one of the lead officials noticed this and tried to calm me down,\u201d he said, adding \u201cBut in the following games, I was better able to control myself and thus improved in my officiating as the tournament went on.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the competition, Ruhamiriza was able to rub shoulders with eminent referees that had been at continental events, including the African Basketball Championships (Afrobasket) finals.<\/p>\n

This, he said, helped him gain more knowledge and confidence.<\/p>\n

His first experience in African championships came in 2018 at the under-18 Afrobasket in Bamako, Mali.<\/p>\n

Up until the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ruhamiriza recalls participating in various local and international competitions, in what seemed to cement him as a top umpire.<\/p>\n

Just two years ago, he was, among other referees, selected for the first window of the Afrobasket Qualifiers that took place in Cameroon.<\/p>\n

The nomination, he pointed out, was an opportune moment to gain global exposure and be recognized by FIBA \u2013 the world basketball governing body.<\/p>\n

However, his expectations didn\u2019t materialize as a result of the brevity of the event, which only lasted 3 days.<\/p>\n

The Black License<\/b><\/p>\n

Before 2017, there was no official or recognized way of determining what category a basketball referee was designated to officiate in.<\/p>\n

The narrative was changed in 2019 when he, along with two other colleagues, were granted a black license that gave them eligibility to officiate international games of all senior and junior levels.<\/p>\n

The fact that Ruhamiriza officiated a big game between two continental giants Cameroon and C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire in the Afrobasket Qualifiers is testament to the trust and eminence he has achieved in the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI officiated a game that was much anticipated between Cameroon and C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire who were both fighting for first place in their pool. It was because of this opportunity and the way I handled the game that I felt I would finally be recognized by FIBA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coming to the BAL floor<\/b><\/p>\n

The inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League Championships (BAL), which was staged in Kigali and lasted 2 weeks, was a \u2018massive experience\u2019 because it took basketball on the continent to a whole other level.<\/p>\n

\u201cOfficiating in the BAL was a massive experience in that the skills I acquired during that brief period were more significant than those I had acquired hitherto the beginning of that season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite only officiating up to the quarter-finals of BAL\u2019s first season, Ruhamiriza is satisfied with the experience and exposure he obtained from the event.<\/p>\n

He was also among referees who lead the second season of the BAL this year, which ran from March 5 to May 28.<\/p>\n

A future Olympic referee?<\/b><\/p>\n

In a professional career as a licensed international basketball referee that has spanned close to 5 years, Ruhamiriza can say with confidence that he is among the best in the region, if not on the continent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe I still have a long journey ahead of me considering the target I want to reach. I\u2019ve set my sights on officiating in the Olympics, even though I know the opportunity is hard to come by because it requires one to at least have officiated at two World Cups.\u201d<\/p>\n

The retirement age for a referee locked at 50; at 31 years of age, Ruhamiriza is optimistic that his dream of being an Olympic referee is valid.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza\u2019s passion for basketball was ignited and showcased during his upper high school studies at G.S Kabgayi where he played as a small forward in the second division league. With time, however, his playing time declined as the management recruited better players to make the team more competitive. Owing to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":19451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,28,18],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-19452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nRuhamiriza on his refereeing journey and ambition to officiate at Olympics - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza\u2019s passion for basketball was ignited and showcased during his upper high school studies at G.S K ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/ruhamiriza-on-his-refereeing-journey-and-ambition-to-officiate-at-olympics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ruhamiriza on his refereeing journey and ambition to officiate at Olympics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jean Sauveur Ruhamiriza\u2019s passion for basketball was ignited and showcased during his upper high school studies at G.S K ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/ruhamiriza-on-his-refereeing-journey-and-ambition-to-officiate-at-olympics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-10T10:53:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-10T11:08:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/06\/postQueueImg_17-62a325ff55672.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"847\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"491\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/ruhamiriza-on-his-refereeing-journey-and-ambition-to-officiate-at-olympics#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/ruhamiriza-on-his-refereeing-journey-and-ambition-to-officiate-at-olympics\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ruhamiriza on his refereeing journey and ambition to officiate at Olympics\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-10T10:53:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-10T11:08:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/ruhamiriza-on-his-refereeing-journey-and-ambition-to-officiate-at-olympics\"},\"wordCount\":891,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/ruhamiriza-on-his-refereeing-journey-and-ambition-to-officiate-at-olympics#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2022\/06\/postQueueImg_17-62a325ff55672.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Rwanda\",\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/ruhamiriza-on-his-refereeing-journey-and-ambition-to-officiate-at-olympics#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/ruhamiriza-on-his-refereeing-journey-and-ambition-to-officiate-at-olympics\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sport\/ruhamiriza-on-his-refereeing-journey-and-ambition-to-officiate-at-olympics\",\"name\":\"Ruhamiriza on his refereeing journey and ambition to officiate at Olympics - 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