B.C. referees blowing the whistle on cancer
There may be no games this season, but basketball officials press on
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn't kept Karn Dhillon and fellow basketball referees from doing their part to try to get cancer to foul out.
Despite there being no games at the high school, college or university levels that they could use to promote their cause, the B.C. Basketball Officials Association (BCBOA) decided to still run its annual February Pink Whistle/ Call A Foul on Cancer campaign. According to its B.C. Cancer Foundation donation page, it had raised $19,912 by midday Wednesday to be put toward cancer awareness and research.
With four full days left in the month, the campaign could surpass the $25,730 it raised last February, and back then there was a full slate of games where officials could do things like put out signage to advertise their cause and accept cash donations directly.
Over the 12 years, the campaign has raised more than $106,000 for the B.C. Cancer Foundation, steadily climbing from that initial year when it raised $2,200.
“COVID-19 could not stop us,” said Dhillon, a veteran referee who is the BCBOA director of administration. “I think, in some ways, it made our group stronger. I wish I could hug everybody right now who's been involved in this.”
Dhillon is the main organizer. He's the guy who bought the initial supply of pink whistles, borrowing an idea he saw from National Football League referees.
The referees usually use them in games over the month to promote the cause. They traditionally give them out in gyms after receiving cash donations, as well as pink lanyards. The BCBOA has gone through in excess of 1,600 pink whistles and more than 1,000 lanyards in the history of the program.
Like far too many of us, Dhillon understands the toll cancer can take on family, friends and colleagues. Dhillon's sister Amanjit Payer died in 2013, after a five-year battle with cancer. She was 55.
Not long after her initial diagnosis, there was another relative who was diagnosed with cancer. There was also a fellow basketball referee. Cancer, until that point, hadn't been something that had touched Dhillon's life.
“The punches kept on coming and you get deflated and you wallow in it for a little bit. But then there's a point where you say, `Why are you wallowing? What are you going to do about it?'” Dhillon said.
The Province's Howard Tsumura featured the Pink Whistle campaign in a January 2011 story. That was followed by a spot on Global TV with Steve Darling, and Dhillon said that media attention helped push the cause forward.
“When we started this, we never expected to still be going strong 12 years later,” Dhillon said. “We didn't know what to expect when we started.”
The BCBOA did discuss in a November Zoom call whether to continue with the Pink Whistle campaign this season. In the end, the officials were hesitant to shut down and lose any of the momentum they had gained with this program over the years.
“This is largely about a mailing list that I've cobbled together for the past 12 years and sending out emails that start with `I hope this isn't junk mail to you,'” Dhillon explained.
“The resounding message in all this isn't about the referees, but about how we've helped to break down the barriers between referees and players and coaches and other supporters of basketball and about how we all can say, `Hey, we give a damn.'”
If you have paid any attention to basketball in this province over the last 20 years or so, there are many names on the Pink Whistle donation list that you'll recognize.
“I think this year with the Pink Whistle, it really shows how the basketball community is able to come together and rally around something,” said Paul Eberhardt, the longtime high school coach and college coach.
Competition between rival high schools in any sports hasn't happened this school year due to COVID-19 restrictions. B.C. School Sports announced in early February that the winter-season provincial championships were cancelled. The girls basketball provincials were slated for March 3-6 at the Langley Events Centre, while the boys tournaments were set for March 10-13 at the LEC.
The collegiate and university basketball seasons were called off as well.