The NBA’s roster of female referees continues to grow.
Cheryl Flores and Dannica Mosher have been promoted to the level of full-time staff officials, the NBA said Thursday. The NBA now has eight women at the full-time referee level, the most the league has ever had at one time.
Flores and Mosher earned promotions from the G League level, as did another pair of new hires — Matt Kallio, who becomes the NBA’s first international full-time official, and Robert Hussey.
“Cheryl, Robert, Matt and Dannica have demonstrated the ability and professionalism required to be a full-time NBA officiating staff member,” said Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s senior vice president overseeing referee development and training. “We are excited for them to have reached this milestone in their careers.”
Flores and Mosher join Lauren Holtkamp-Sterling, Simone Jelks, Ashley Moyer-Gleich, Natalie Sago, Jenna Schroeder and Danielle Scott as women at the full-time NBA referee level. Ten women have held that job in league history, with the current eight joining Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner on that list.
A record 12 women worked games last season in the NBA, some getting called up from the G League and non-staff levels to help when the league’s officiating roster was decimated by COVID-19. The current group of eight full-timers all did games, as did Clare Aubry, Sha’Rae Mitchell, Blanca Burns and Jenna Reneau.
Flores has spent nine seasons in the G League and 10 in the WNBA, and is also an accomplished women’s college referee with two Final Fours on her resume. Mosher has four seasons of G League officiating experience, five seasons in the WNBA and worked both the G League Finals and the WNBA Finals last season.
Hussey has worked five G League seasons and two in the WNBA. Kallio — a native of Edmonton, Alberta — has seven years of G League experience, five years of WNBA experience and worked the Tokyo Olympics.
“We’re looking for the best referees,” McCutchen said.
Adding women to the refereeing positions has been a priority for McCutchen and other NBA executives, including Commissioner Adam Silver. McCutchen has long said that the NBA will hire the best people to fill the job, regardless of gender.
“It’s just fantastic. And that’s the way our society should be,” McCutchen said. “The NBA feels very strongly that this should be a meritocracy. And this is exactly what a true meritocracy looks like.”
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