How To Become A Basketball Referee: What It Is and Career Path

What is a basketball referee and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a basketball referee. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.05 an hour? That's $37,546 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 32% and produce 4,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreBasketball RefereeUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $37,546

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.0

Growth rate 32%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.34%

Asian 4.86%

Black or African American 8.04%

Hispanic or Latino 11.22%

Unknown 6.70%

White 68.84%

Gender

female 16.71%

male 83.29%

Age - 24

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 24

Stress level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a basketball referee

Explore basketball referee education requirements

Most common basketball referee degrees

Bachelor's

68.5 %

Associate

11.4 %

High School Diploma

10.9 %

Start to develop specific basketball referee skills

Skills	Percentages
CPR	31.30%
Role Model	16.21%
Girls Basketball	14.59%
Leadership	7.25%
League Rules	5.70%

Complete relevant basketball referee training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New basketball referees learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a basketball referee based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real basketball referee resumes.

Research basketball referee duties and responsibilities

Manage conflicts and resolutions between other umpires and coaches/parents.
Officiate adult slow pitch softball- in accordance with official ASA guidelines.
Gain a strong sense of patience, leadership, communication and decision making skills.
Umpire multiple championship games under intense pressure from the leagues, parents and coaches.

Prepare your basketball referee resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your basketball referee resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a basketball referee resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable basketball referee resume templates

Build a professional basketball referee resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your basketball referee resume.