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Don Steponchev, who was born in Regina and
played his early basketball with Balfour Tech Redmen, has provided a
great service to basketball through officiating.
He began officiating in Regina and continued
his role after moving to Saskatoon in 1961.
Don has been president of the Saskatoon
Basketball Officials' Association, interpreter of the rules for over 20
years, evaluator of officials for 15 years and a clinician. He has been
an executive member of the Saskatchewan association for 10 years.
At the
national level, Don has been a representative of the Canadian
Association of Basketball Association and an accredited evaluator and
assigner for national tournaments. In August, 1992, he was awarded the
Ted Earley Memorial Trophy, the highest award bestowed by the Canadian
officials.
Don became a certified
referee in the wheelchair basketball movement in 1975. He was selected
to officiate at the 1975 world championships in London, the 1976
Olympiad for Physically Disabled in Toronto, the 1978 Pan American Games
in Brazil, the 1979 Gold Cup in Florida, the 1980 Olympiad in Holland,
the 1981 European championships in Sweden, the 1981 Pan American
championships in Halifax and the 1991 world championships in England.
He earned his
international certificate for work with able-bodied athletes in 1978. He
has worked international women's tournaments in Cuba, Bulgaria, Hungary
and Czechoslovakia, international men's tournaments in Korea and China,
the World Student Games in Edmonton, the Asian Women's Games in
Singapore and the Asian Games in China. |