Perthshire basketball ref shared court with superstars

Perthshire man Chris Dodds is living the dream as a basketball referee – and is inviting others to do the same.

About 20 years of officiating at the top level have enabled Chris, 50, to travel the world and share the basketball court with superstars such as Lebron James and the late Kobe Bryant.

Tomorrow, he will be scrutinised by 17,000 fans at London’s O2 Arena as one of three referees for the British Basketball League (BBL) play-off final between Leicester Riders and London Lions.

Chris, who lives in Bridge of Earn, aims to address a post-Covid shortage of referees by highlighting the incredible opportunities for sports referees.

“There are only six countries in Europe that I have not refereed in,” he says.

“I also got to referee at two Commonwealth Games – in 2006 and 2018, which both conveniently happened to be in Australia.

“I have refereed at three World University Games and I have also refereed at two senior European Championships called Eurobasket.

“If someone had told me, when I did my first refereeing qualification, that I would referee in the Commonwealth Games, at 11 British BBL finals and get to referee on the same court as the US Olympic gold medal-winning team the guys in the white jackets would have locked me away.

“That was not the ambition but through all the stages of the basketball pathway I was able to carry on and really enjoy it. Now I want others to have that opportunity as well.”

As a youngster in Edinburgh, Chris was inspired to take up basketball by his uncle Guthrie Wilson, who played for the dominant Boroughmuir Barrs team of the late 1960s and 1970s.

Guthrie played for Scotland more than 60 times and won numerous caps for Great Britain, including in the 1976 pre Olympic tournament.

“My uncle began my childhood fascination with basketball. I used to go through all his winners’ medals and trophies at my Grandma’s house,” says Chris, who also used to watch basketball games at Meadowbank involving Murray International Metals, owned by the latterday Rangers chairman David Murray.

Chris, a forward, went on to emulate Guthrie by representing the Barrs for 10 seasons, beginning when he was a teenager. “The game was always short on volunteers and officials,” he said. “I was a member of the regional committee and I did a referees’ course to help with the shortage.

“After a couple of seasons I realised maybe more of my skills and future was involved in officiating rather than playing.

“I was 26.”

Three years later, in 2001, he was invited to the BBL to officiate the top-level men’s league. In 2003 Chris achieved his international licence and qualified as an international referee.

He was a busy man – refereeing every week in the UK and also frequently abroad.

One of the highlights was officiating – alongside two others – a pre Olympics exhibition match between the US and Great Britain at Manchester Arena in July 2012. Chris makes an understandable admission about the game, which was played in front of 18,000 people.

“Playing for America were Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and all the major superstars. It was a privilege to referee that game. We were professional but were a bit starstruck. It was an incredible, surreal experience.

“We got to speak to them during the game and had a conversation with Kobe at half-time on the differences between the NBA type of officiating and the international rules. You never forget these things.

“Never mind the American superstars, there were also two Scots in the Britain team. These were Kieron Achara and Robert Archibald, who grew up in Dunfermline and became the only Scot ever to play in the NBA.

“For a Scottish referee to be refereeing the best players in the world, as well as the two Scots playing for Team GB at the time, was a very proud moment.”

Chris concedes that “refereeing doesn’t pay the mortgage” but he has managed to contribute to the sport in his day job as well.

In 2004 he moved to Perth to become basketball development manager for Tayside and Fife, running courses and working with local authorities and schools to promote the sport.

“We grew the game,” Chris says. “There are a lot more clubs and they are a lot more sustainable.

“We had Arbroath and Tayside Musketeers, we had Perth Phoenix and Dundee Madsons – clubs who have all gone from strength to strength.

“We had numerous boys and girls who came through Tayside who have been picked for under 16 and under 18 games.

“We grew the volunteer workforce, grew the coaching and officials. Basketball was upward.”

In 2012 Chris became national head of communities at Basketball Scotland. Four years later he moved to NHS Tayside, where he works in the Test and Protect team.

Chris retired from international refereeing in 2020 but remains active domestically.

Tomorrow’s match, to be screened live on Sky Sports, will be the third BBL play-off final he has refereed, after 2011 and 2019.

OPPORTUNITY: Chris Dodds, above, has officiated around the world but a highlight was when he was involved in a match with Kobe Bryant, below.