Hetu, Prario lead Broncos to win

BURRILLVILLE — The Burrillville girls soccer team took a big step toward the No. 3 seed in the Division II playoffs, as the talented duo of Sam Prario and Rebecca Hetu dominated visiting Westerly in a 2-0 home win Thursday afternoon.

“That’s four good halves in a row for us,” Burrillville coach Jeff Lavigne said. “Rebecca and Sam are just playing incredible. Sam has controlled the middle of the field, while Rebecca is playing great up top.”

Burrillville (10-2-2 Division II) grabbed the lead just six minutes into the contest when Hetu set up Prario for the gamewinning goal. Hetu scored a goal of her own in the 37th minute after a pass from Eliza Richard.

Burrillville is back in action Tuesday night at West Warwick.

Reeder has now gone on to officiate over 1,000 basketball games, including over 30 both girls and boys state championship games, at the varsity level.

He eventually began officiating for women’s college basketball, and remembers intense matchups he called such as Providence College vs. Georgetown at the Providence Civic Center. However, being a family man with a wife and two sons, and always favoring to work alongside younger minds, Reeder preferred the high school and middle school circuit.

“I enjoy the high school,” he said. “You get to know everyone, you become a part of the community.”

A rules interpreter for the Rhode Island Basketball Officials Association (RIBOA) for 30 years, Reeder attended conferences in Canada, Las Vegas, Orlando and other destinations.

With the knowledge gained and decisions made at the gatherings, Reeder comes back to Rhode Island and shares the updates with RIBOA’s Board of Directors. Because of his position as the state’s rules interpreter, coaches, fellow officials and athletic directors are constantly dialing his number, looking for a clarification of a rule here or an explanation there. Unsurprisingly, Reeder, and his vast knowledge of the game, deliver.

“There’s more rules in basketball than any other sport,” he said. “I could give a 50-question quiz just on uniforms.”

After a number of recommendations from two coaches and an athletic director, Reeder was officially inducted into the ISLHoF with his first application. However, it was not his first hall of fame inclusion. Reeder entered into the Pawtucket Hall of Fame in 2008 and the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. Most recently, he was honored by the prestigious International Association of Approved Basketball Officials, an organization which only adds four extremely qualified and experienced referees to its life membership per year. In 2014, the group selected Reeder for life membership.

When reflecting on his 43 years in the enforcement of the rules of the game which he loves, Reeder connects his time as a youth in Pawtucket to his occupation now, remembering of a specific recent incident in which he refereed a game at Shea High School, his alma mater, which the Raiders ultimately lost in overtime. After the game, an attendee recognized him as being a student at the school long ago.

“He said I shouldn’t have let [the loss] happen,” laughed Reeder. “I said, ‘What are you, crazy?’ That’s how people think.”

Reeder attributes his first-attempt induction to his 1975 decision to begin officiating girls basketball, which had recently been implemented in Rhode Island high schools, in addition to boys games. Reeder, a well-known official at this point, inspired a number of fellow referees to follow in his footsteps.

To stay in shape and meet the demands of a game as fast-paced as basketball, the 77-year-old works out every day.

He said he has maintained the same weight since he began officiating more than four decades ago. His weekly routine involves hitting the gym, running, jogging and cycling on the elliptical. While he would enjoy to hit the court and shoot some hoops, there is simply no time.

In addition to his daily regimen and officiating, Reeder now runs clinics for aspiring referees throughout the state. When instructing newcomers, he offers choice advice that includes neglecting taking influence from professional officiating, which is increasingly becoming lax in favor of flashier play.

“Every time [Larry] Bird hit a three, he took a full step, which is a travel,” said Reeder. “But you’re not going to call that. Some guy is paying $500 to sit up close and watch Bird hit a three, so you’re not going to call it. I tell these guys to get a rulebook and watch officials work, but never watch the pro game. Watch college if you want, but go to high school games. And don’t get in over your head. Start the way I did, with the eight-year-olds who only have one rule memorized, and that’s how to tie their shoes.”

When it comes to receiving negative feedback from a call, Reeder has heard it all. He said dealing with complaints from unfavorable calls comes with experience.

“After awhile, it’s in one ear and out the other,” he said. “But the best compliment you can get is when you’re walking out of the building and you hear two people say, ‘Boy, who were those officials? They weren’t bad.’”

In his lengthy interactions with high school coaches from across the country, the longtime official has learned that coaches, at least, do not mind the calls as much as the effort.

“They care about positioning, where you are when you make a call, and communication,” Reeder explains. “Some coaches claim officials don’t communicate anymore. That’s the biggest thing. If you’re out there working your butt off, don’t be afraid to tell a coach you missed it. Don’t lie. Don’t make a habit of it, but be honest.”

Reeder takes his inspiration from Richard Lynch, the father of current South Kingstown Athletics Director Terry Lynch, who once told him words to live by and a lesson Reeder has passed on to emerging officials in the years since.

“The game means as much to the little guys as it does to the big guys,” Lynch told him. “Always give it 100 percent.”

Reeder will be inducted into ISLHoF on Wednesday, Oct. 25, in a ceremony at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick. Although achieving the high honor and culmination of a lengthy career spent entrenched in the world of Rhode Island scholastic basketball, he plans to keep going.

“I’m 77, people ask me all the time when I’m going to stop,” Reeder said. “Let me tell you something, when I can’t go up and down the court, I’m done. When the passion’s gone, I’ll end it. But I still have it. I just hope the next 43 years are a little bit easier than the first 43.”