FIBA Americas - Making history with women referees

CARACAS (FIBA Americas Championship/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - They are part of the 16 referees officiating at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship but on a bigger scale, they are also part of history. Thirty-two-year-old Lauren Holtkamp Bass of the USA and 33-year-old Andreia Regina Silva of Brazil are the first two women to referee in this kind of championship.

"It's very important to us. FIBA Americas is opening the door and we are opening the door to other women referees," said Silva.

"Their vision is very modern, they are not taking in consideration whether we are female or male, we are all the same to them, the way it should be."

Holtkamp is not only happy but also proud.

"Working with the best referees and the best players on the continent, who are trying 100% to make it to the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, wow, I am proud," she said.

"I love basketball. Refereeing makes me happy and that's why I do it to the maximum of my abilities."

Holtkamp has tried luck in the NBA, but not as a permanent referee.

As for Silva, she wanted to be a coach, but that could not happen in Brazil.

Both have in common the fact that they're not worried what male referees might think of their arrival.

To Holtkamp, it is not a matter of gender.

"Referees are a community, we help each other, we are a team," she explained.

"I don't feel any prejudice from my peers, in fact I feel mutual respect."

As for Silva, a former player, the pressure is not in what other referees might think but in the job well.

"Players have worked hard and there are only four spots (for teams) to qualify for the 2104 FIBA World Cup. And if they worked hard to get here, so did we, we want to do well, and we will do well," she said.

For full and in-depth coverage of the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship, go to the official website http://www.caracas2013.com/en/default.asp?lang=en.

FIBA