By DAHALIA SMITH, NG Sports Reporter, dahalia@nasguard.com

MATHEW TOWN, INAGUA - You would think that if there is at least one female referee in The Bahamas she would reside in New Providence where most of the population is located. This misconception supports the surprise that the only female basketball referee living and active in The Bahamas is Terez Conliffe, who lives in Inagua.

Conliffe, a teacher at the Inagua All Age School said she decided to get involved with officiating after International Basketball Federation's - FIBA (FIBA- world's governing body for basketball) Americas Commissioner and Referee Instructor Freddie Brown went to the island last year.

According to Conliffe, Brown invited interested persons out to a clinic mid last year and only a handful showed up. Conliffe was the only female at the clinic.

"My initial decision to attend the clinic was based on my love for the game of basketball. In addition, I figured that the clinics would be a good activity to get involved with during my spare time," Conliffe said.

Last weekend Conliffe officiated in her first tournament that featured championship teams representing six islands. These six teams all took part in the first Daniel Simmons Basketball Invitational.

At the end of the tournament, Conliffe said she emerged more knowledgeable about the game and more confident as an official.

"At first I was somewhat shy seeing that this is a major tournament. However, once I got into the groove of calling, everything else just fell into place. Then it began to be more fun," said Conliffe.

Conliffe who stands at 5'5 and less than 140 pounds underlined the most challenging part of officiating at the recent Invitational.

"The scariest part calling in the games was to see all of those big guys coming at me. It was a bit scary at first because I got bumped once or twice during the game. However, being able to call in a tournament of this magnitude was most exciting. Also the respect that the players gave me was good. At times there were two to three players arguing calls I made but at the end of the day they respected my decisions. As a matter of fact, most of the players complimented me after the game," said Conliffe.

Furthermore Conliffe was praised by Brown, for her dedication to officiating.

"Terez is a very quick learner. She is also very dedicated to learning all about officiating because she attended all of the clinics. As far as I can see she has a bright future in officiating and is on course to becoming certified by FIBA," Brown noted.

In related news, FIBA's pre-certification officials' clinic is set to wrap up today at the College of the Bahamas campus. The actual FIBA sponsored certification clinic is set for the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium from May 9-11.