History of MMBRA
Chapter 1
Before outlining the history of this great organization, credit must be giving to the countless officials who have called MMBRA home. This information has been most generously given by the archives of IAABO, and relayed by treasured members, the officials who have refereed thousands of games and have thousands of memories. We are very fortunate to hear these stories directly from those who were there, and we are privileged to have them so future generations do not forget where they have come from.
It would be impossible to begin a conversation about, and a record of, MMBRA without giving credit to the creator himself. Dr. James Naismith, a native of Ramsay Township near Almonte, Ontario, attended McGill University where he competed in football, soccer and gymnastics and graduated among the top 10 in his class with a B.A. Honors in 1887, majoring in philosophy, divinity, and Hebrew. He later taught physical education and became McGill's first director of athletics before accepting a position at the YMCA College in Springfield, Mass., where he devised the rules to basketball in December of 1891 . Naismith delineated 13 basic rules, including prohibitions against running with the ball and “shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping, or striking in any way.” It was these 13 basic rules that were the essence of all the rules every official has been attempting to interpret and enforce for the past 130 years. By 1900, basketball was being played in Canada by both men and women at local YMCAs and YWCAs, as well as in schools and clubs.
As the sport grew, there was a need for it to be played under the same rules wherever one might go. Hence the first recorded board of basketball officials was born.
F.M. Van WagnerBy the late 1920s a professor from McGill began to enquire about a chapter in Montreal which would be known as local chapter 106. In 1931, Floyd Marcellus Van Wagner became the first president and founder of the Quebec Basketball Referees Association. F.M Marcellus Van Wagner or “Van” as he was known, held this position until 1945. “Van” was not only involved in basketball officiating. His skills touched many sports over 50 years and is in the McGill University Sports Hall of fame.
J.G. LangIn the first season after the Second World War, IAABO 106 had a new leader, a young man named J.G Lang. He began his career at University of Western Ontario coaching track and basketball. He became a member of the Canadian Physical Education Association. Later on his work brought him to Montreal where he became the Supervisor of Physical Education for the Protestant Board of School Commissions of Montreal, (future P.S.B.G.M) and IAABO 106’s second president. His vision for basketball and officiating was ahead of its time, and countless documents and writings of his showed his avocation of woman in sports as well as officiating. He served the board as president until 1954.
Doug Potvin
For a decade he led the Montreal Metropolitan Basketball Referees Association (MMBRA), which comprised about 50 officials. While they were small in number they were big in quality. They were able to identify with one another, and stayed in close contact as well. They were very much a "manual" Board, where computers and cell phones were not even a thought; communication and messages took place in person or by telephone. Back then, as today, that message all officials waited for was from one person; the assigner. 106’s original assigner was an elderly gentleman named Frank Ully, and for years MMBRA was involved in a tournament held in his name. Frank was an official years before he was an assigner and proved to be dedicated and fair in assigning games. First hand accounts all point to the fact that if you drove him home after meetings you would be rewarded with an extra game or two. Frank had no computer nor assignment sheets prepared. He seemed to operate with crib notes and slips. In those years if one didn't attend the meetings you would not get any slip (assignment) unless you were absolutely needed. Frank handed out the assignments at the meetings. It was at these meetings that the stalwarts of 106 waited for their assignments. Tim Hoe, John Thompson, John Elias, Don Robertson, Harry Hus, Danny O’Connel, Dick Carletti, Ben Vogel, Howard Liebman, Philp Fleurguin, and Eddie Steinman were the refereeing backbone of the Montreal region. Keeping them on the ball and updated regarding the rules was Ken McGowan, a student of the game and a national class interpreter who was always happy to answer any question about basketball rules.
Howard Liebman
Once the gang received their assignments it was no easy matter to get to each game. If the official did not have a car, public transport was the only way around. University students such as Howard Liebman had quite the trip. The Metro was being worked on but would not be operating until Expo 67. From Sir George Williams University (Concordia), a trip to Cardinal Newman, Dunton, Northmount, Outremont, Verdun, Father McDonald, Sir Winston Churchill and Drummond School might take two hours. But not to worry as game rates were huge! Bantam paid $6, a game while Junior games paid $8 and Senior ball would roll out at $10.
As 106 moved through the sixties there were some changes on the horizon. Towards the end of the decade a group including John McDonnaugh and Bob Deschenaux, a former Board 106 member, and University of Montreal Physical Education professor, met to create a provincial basketball structure which in 1969 led to the establishment of the 'Federation de Basketball du Quebec' and, by extension, the 'Comité Provinciale de l'Arbitrage', (CPA). The Federation consisted of 14 regions each of whom had their own board of officials. Three of these regions were on the Island of Montreal; Montreal East Bourassa, Montreal, and St. Louis Montreal West. For a period of time the regions in Montreal worked independently of each other.
This was a time when the concept of CEGEP was nonexistent. There was a JV university league to which aspiring officials were assigned. There were far fewer games than there are today and knowing coaches and players was second nature. Once the CEGEPs were formed in the late 60’s, officials developed a very cordial relationships with coaches of Vanier, Dawson, John Abbott, Maisonneuve, and Champlain. When the coach of the Dawson Blues, Ritchie Spears got married at half time of a home game in 1975, referees Harry Hus and Ted Darling both brought tuxedos so they might participate in the after game festivities. Basketball in Quebec is a tight community and other notables in that game included future MMBRA official and CCAA Hall of Fame inductee Varouj Gurunlian, as well as future referee Pat Adrien alongside Eddie Pomykala who would be on the other side of the battle in years to come as a CIAU Coach of the year for the Bishop’s Gaiters. The atmosphere at games could get heated but respect for the greater game was there. Where else could you hear Alex Sidorenko at Vanier College yelling at almost every home game: "…making downtown calls", and 30 seconds later making players and officials alike laugh with one of his classic one-liners.
In the early '70s the Canadian Amateur Basketball Association adopted FIBA rules which led to the demise of NCAA rules and IAABO Boards throughout the country. Basketball in Quebec was in good hands when it came the next step, which was the formation of CABO national board. The CABO Charter was signed on behalf of Quebec by “the legend” Harry Hus as well as Richard Staples in 1974 in Toronto.
Two years later Montreal was to host the world, and local John McDonaugh was one of four FIBA appointed floor official in the 1976 Montreal Olympics where he excelled. At halftime of one of the games John met then Prime Minister, Pierre Eliot Trudeau outside the officials room. After chatting briefly John asked him if he would come into the dressing room where 8 to 10 officials from various countries happen to be. Pictures were taken and discussions ensued as the Prime Minister was quite versed in multiple languages. John’s career is one of MMBRA’s great success stories. After the Olympics John traveled from one coast of Canada to the other giving clinics on FIBA rules and he would appoint and evaluate officials at National Championships as well as working some of those games himself. Through the 80's and up till 1997 John was the assigner and evaluator of officials at the University level in Quebec. John McDonough was the first inductee into the MMBRA hall of fame in 2016.
MMBRA’s connection to the Olympic Games did not end with John. Harry Hus (pictured right with fellow University official Eddie Steinman) was hired by the Olympic Basketball Organizing Committee to be the Liaison between FIBA and the Floor Officials. He also officiated two Pre-Olympic Exhibition Games played in Montreal; Canada’s men’s team vs. Spain and Canada’s women’s vs. Poland. Harry’s career is legendary. His international experience as an official has allowed him to travel the globe and referee basketball on multiple occasions. As far as officiating and supervising National Tournaments, Harry was as much a part of them as the basketball itself. Harry did everything—officiating at all levels, including the finals as both an official and a supervisor. He was also a major advocate of introducing the 3 Officials System to CABO and Canada. Within the MMBRA community Harry is known as “The Legend”, although the dictionary describes a legend as “a traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but unauthenticated”. Rest assured, the career of Harry Hus has been indeed authenticated and is a pivotal building block in the history of MMBRA.
Tony Payne (far right)
MMBRA’s last link with the Olympic Games was with a young and up and coming official named Tony Payne. Tony began to officiate and rose through the ranks with considerable speed. By 1976 his skill and acumen allowed him to work the games as a table official (He can be seen sitting on the right side of the photo left). In Quebec Tony was a staple in the JV university league, and later became one of Canada’s best officials, being invited to represent Quebec at numerous men’s and woman’s National Championships where he excelled. After a spectacular career at the university level Tony began to supervise the same league he mastered. Locally, Tony worked to give back to the next generation by serving as MMBRA’s Head of Supervision. For over half a century Tony continued to be the example of professionalism. He was, and continues to be, a true gentleman and ambassador to the game.
It was a 2 referee system which was focused on maximum coverage of the court and teamwork whereby each referee was responsible for one side, and one side only, of the court, making calls and never having to switch sides. If you are lead and make a foul call, you relay the info to trail, who then reports the foul to the score table. The system caught on like wildfire among the local membership, and was adopted by many officials who waited for opportunities to use it and perfect it. Since that time technology has made the “The Wallach System” obsolete though many referees across the country still use its basic principles. If interested in its workings, please feel free to ask any experienced referee about its mechanics.
Jim became the MMBRA weekday and weekend assigner from 1991 until 1995. His assignments were handwritten and distributed at the bull sessions as we were not yet fully immersed into the computer age. Officials recall the messy sheets he gave out, but rarely was a game missed. Often, he would call officials by phone if he had an additional game for you, and if he did not want to talk to you he would call when you were refereeing and leave a message on the new answering machines most people were investing in. After many years as a school administrator, his last 5 years at Lakeside Academy, he retired and along with his wife, who also was a school administrator, moved to Ontario where he currently resides. While his physical presence is gone, his impact on officiating in Montreal is felt to this day.
As MMBRA left the 80s, the organization would grow by leaps and bounds as many members came and went, but there were those who would stay and make MMBRA a home for decades. Sandor Finklelstein, who was also at Aimé Renaud H.S., had a successful career both as a coach on the basketball floor and on the soccer pitch. He brought those skills to MMBRA and became one of the organizations most prolific officials while always giving constative advice to the next generation. Other veterans from that era were Jorge Tapia who represented himself and his community as a gentleman and was a staple at many of the PBAM events, Joe Katz, King of the West Island and Jim Hanna, who believed that anything north of Sources was considered north. Each gentleman deserves a hat tip in their direction for their contribution to MMBRA.
Tony Payne, John Elias, Harry Hus