The WNBA isn’t new to officiating points.
This offseason, the league took an added step towards addressing the issues by establishing a activity pressure whose duty might be to offer suggestions on particular areas of enchancment. The group met a number of instances this offseason and has plans to proceed assembly in the course of the 2026 marketing campaign.
However after years of heavy scrutiny, what was the catalyst for the WNBA’s newfound emphasis on making officiating adjustments? Sue Blauch, the WNBA’s head of referee efficiency and growth, instructed The Athletic the general officiating efficiency was “good” final season. Nonetheless, there have been various video games the place “egregious” errors had been made.
Blauch particularly referenced the Indiana Fever’s 88-71 win over the Connecticut Solar on June 17.
“We had various errors in that recreation,” Blauch mentioned. “We simply didn’t deal with the physicality from the primary interval. When you return and have a look at that recreation, it escalated. The feelings escalated and we didn’t do our job.”
There have been three late-game ejections after Fever guard Sophie Cunningham wrapped up Solar guard Jacy Sheldon underneath the basket with lower than a minute to play. They had been each ejected, together with Solar guard Lindsay Allen.
However Blauch felt there have been moments all through the sport that had been known as incorrectly, which led to the skirmish. Fever guard Caitlin Clark was poked within the eye by Sheldon within the third quarter. Clark shoved Sheldon earlier than strolling away from her, and was then physique checked to the bottom by Solar guard Marina Mabrey.
Mabrey was assessed a technical foul, and Sheldon was given a Flagrant 1. Mabrey’s foul was later upgraded to a Flagrant 2, however Blauch mentioned it ought to have resulted in an ejection.
Monty McCutchen, the pinnacle of referee coaching and growth throughout the NBA, WNBA and G League, added that there have been “fairly egregious hair pulls” that additionally went unchecked. Blanca Burns, Jenna Reneau and Ashley Gloss had been the referees in that recreation. All three are nonetheless officiating within the league, Blauch mentioned.
“The specifics are rather less vital than the truth that we had some moments that acquired too massive on prime of us and we didn’t deal with with the suitable quantity of adjudication to it,” McCutchen mentioned. “Any time you miss the mark on that, then the feelings escalate in a recreation as a result of the right penalty wasn’t [called]. ‘When you’re not going to handle this, then I’ll’ form of mentality begins to seep right into a recreation.”
The newly fashioned activity pressure consists of eight WNBA coaches and normal managers and is separate from the league’s competitors committee, which is made up of each coach and GM. In line with a crew supply, the duty pressure consists of Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts, Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White, Toronto Tempo coach Sandy Brondello, Connecticut Solar GM Morgan Tuck, Dallas Wings GM Curt Miller, New York Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb, Minnesota Lynx coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve and Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon.
Blauch mentioned the group felt there wasn’t a necessity for brand spanking new guidelines, simply higher enforcement of the present ones — emphasizing freedom of motion — which has resulted in an uptick in foul calls year-over-year. The WNBA was averaging 38.7 fouls per recreation by means of the primary 10 days of the 2025 season. That quantity has risen to 44 fouls per recreation this season.
Previous to this yr, there have been two yearly conferences, one in November and one other within the spring, at which the competitors committee would handle officiating points and different operational issues with league officers.
McCutchen and Blauch say they’re continually evaluating officers in the course of the season utilizing a platform known as “referee engagement efficiency system.” It permits them to tug up particular performs and supply suggestions, ask questions and do an total analysis of officers’ efficiency. McCutchen and Blauch can clip any play inside 30 seconds after the ultimate buzzer and ship it to officers utilizing this technique.
An extra accountability measure is taken in scheduling. McCutchen mentioned officers will not be given their complete schedule for the season. The officers who carry out properly within the first quarter of the season might be elevated from umpire or referee to crew chief. The other can be true in that officers underperforming might be demoted to referee or umpire from the crew chief position.
The Final Two Minute Report, which is utilized within the NBA, can be being thought-about. McCutchen mentioned it hasn’t been carried out solely due to a useful resource challenge and that referee operations is “not afraid of a L2M report.”
With regard to doubtlessly having a WNBA replay heart, Bethany Donaphin, the WNBA’s head of league operations, mentioned in an announcement shared with The Athletic that the league is continually evaluating its referee operations program, together with how expertise may advance the sport.
“These discussions are ongoing and we’ll proceed to judge future funding alternatives in these areas,” Donaphin’s assertion mentioned. “It’s definitely one thing we’re exploring, however there’s nothing to announce right now.”