FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2006


2006 Class 5A boys basketball championship game makes history with all-female officiating crew

LAKELAND – History was made at the 2006 FHSAA Boys Basketball Finals on Friday night when the Class 5A championship game was officiated by an all-female crew.

Mae Foley, Lori Nelson and Gale Peterson, members of the Greater Miami Athletic Conference, officiated the contest between Chamberlain High School of Tampa and Eastside High School of Gainesville. It was the first time in FHSAA history that an all-female crew officiated a game in the FHSAA Boys Basketball Finals

“I don’t consider it historic,” said Denarvise Thornton, the FHSAA’s Senior Director of Athletic Operations, who assigned the officiating crews for the tournament. “They are officials who, like all of the other officials in the tournament, have proven themselves capable and deserving of the opportunity to officiate a game in the FHSAA Finals.”

Margaret Busbee, a member of the Southern Association of Basketball Officials based in Jacksonville, and Lora Phillips, a member of Pinellas Area Referees based in Largo, became the first females to officiate games in the boys finals in 2002.

About the FHSAA
Headquartered in Gainesville, the Florida High School Athletic Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of more than 720 middle and senior public and private high schools. More than 175,000 student-athletes annually participate in one or more of the FHSAA’s 28 championship sports programs. More information is available at www.fhsaa.org.


Contacts:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org