An interview with Richard Wright: Division 1 Basketball referee
“The Cage” is a historic non-regulation sized basketball court located in the heart of Greenwich Village, New York City. It’s beyond small, and the court is fenced in on all sides, and in some places, the sideline spared a slim three-foot distance from the chain-link base. The Cage housed the West 4th Street basketball league, which premiered some of the best Tri- Stated ballplayers. New York City playground legend Speedy Williams, N.B.A. players Smush Parker, Rafer Alston, and the likes of the late great New York Knicks All-Star Anthony Mason have graced the blacktop.
It was on this blacktop that I first saw Richard Wright. He was strong and quick. He could rebound and shoot with the best of them. After his playing days, Richard joined the officiating ranks, working 15 years as a Division 1 Women’s basketball official. He worked in the American East, the IVY league, M.A.A.C., Northeast conference, and the Colonial (C.A.A.). He was blessed to work the W.N.I.T. (Women’s National College Basketball Tournament) twice, the D3- Final Four 2 times, and the D2 regionals 5 times. Currently, he works in Division 2 and 3, mentoring younger officials as they develop. He came up through the New York S.U.B.O.A. (Sports United Benevolent Officials Association). The NY Basketball Referee Organization. S.U.B.O.A. is a not-for-profit basketball organization that prepares men and women to enter the vocation of basketball officiating. Richard is an anomaly of sorts.
What made Richard stand out was his arm. Richard was born with a visible disability. His right arm was noticeably shorter than his left. When asked about the clinical diagnoses of his arm, he replied, “You know what, I’ve never known a name for it. According to my Mom, she was a diabetic at birth. So that might have played a role in my deformity.
At birth, I actually couldn’t move my arm. I had an operation when I was eight years old. And I had to get some bones put in my shoulder so I could make it mobile because at one time my arm was stationary.”
When I had an opportunity to chat with Richard via Zoom, I was nervous. I had known Richard for over twenty years but never took the time to have a conversation about his arm. Part of me didn’t want to offend him, but he quickly put my mind at ease. “Kevin, trust me, there’s nothing you will say that I haven’t heard.”
Kevin Sparrock: Tell me about your officiating road. How many years, your journey, and what level you work.
Richard Wright: It started out, I want to say nineteen ninety-six, and it started out with recreational stuff. Summer ball first. I actually started officiating before I was certified. I completed all my floor work first before I actually took the test. I took the test through Brooklyn SUBOA. I passed the high school board test, and from there, I just went on and started officiating high school ball.
It was a feeling-out process because a lot of the things that I had to adjust to, which was like the calling of plays and my mechanics based on the fact that, you know, I had limited use of my right arm. So, I had to always make sure that my mechanics were crisp, and [that] I use my voice.
The more I used my voice, the more accepting coaches were. They were like, “Oh, he must know what he’s talking about because he’s using his voice.”
You had a presence on you. You’re like you are like six-four. Right. So, it’s not like you’re a small man either, right?
Richard: I’m six-three. That kind of helped me out in my officiating journey, too, because of my height. Although my limited use of my right arm never impeded anything psychologically, I always knew that I could officiate because I played basketball. I played high school, and I played a little college ball. So, I knew that I was able to make the adjustment. I just had to put my mind to it. It took determination to do it.
What were those hurdles coming up as a kid, playing ball? What college did you go to?
Richard: I went to Queens College, and I played high school basketball at Park West. So, yeah, I’m a Brooklyn kid.
So, what were your hurdles with that journey? Even as a player? How do you think you were perceived?
Well. I actually started playing ball when I was like eight or nine years old. So, I was always able to make the adjustments as far as putting it between my legs going behind my back because I started doing it at an early age, and some of the hurdles came about in the beginning. I had to actually prove myself to my peers that I can actually play. And then after a while, they see that you know, this guy is in starting five, he can play. He’s there for a reason, and he’s not out there taking up space because they got six other guys on the bench. The only hurdle I had, to be honest, was mental. Once I got past the mental part of me being accepted and being competitive, I think the doors were wide open after that. Like I said, eight or nine years old, I started playing. So, I started honing my skills back then.
In a part of this conversation, I want to talk about biases. I think identifying who you are as a person helps people to understand you as an individual. Anyone that is disabled or has a disability is totally different. For example, sometimes, there’s an expectation that all black people are the same and think the same. The same for our population of people who have disabilities. There is an assumption that all people with disabilities are the same and react the same.
Richard: It’s really important because, at least for me, it’s like a lot of the biases we have in our community today, even in a white community, are based on things we just don’t know. And how do we get better at that?
What I’m learning is some people with disabilities don’t want to say, I’m a person with a disability. And others are OK with identifying as a person who lives with a disability or a disabled person. How do you identify?
Richard: I always identified myself with limited use of my right arm.
Do you think your disability was holding you back?
Richard: I think my disability was a blessing. Absolutely. It was a blessing in disguise that I was able to adapt and to show people that I can do it and it can be done, you know? In the beginning, there was the respect factor there because it was abnormal to see a person like that from a cultural standpoint. Looking at me, they were like, wow. I never saw a person with a short arm that could referee. And he’s not bad. So I think it came as a challenge because of the unknown. I think I was the only one visibly handicapped at that level.
You’re saying you were the only one you can visually see your disability instead of not seeing. Correct?
Richard: Right. That’s key because no matter where I went, I was the only one that stood out like that. And I guess it always felt fulfilling to actually be a part of it, you know what I mean? To be a part of the officiating world and be accepted amongst my peers and amongst the coaches, you know. Every camp I went to, they started to know me. Oh, he’s back again this year. I guess the breakthrough came when I kept pushing. I just kept pushing.
So, for other people in similar situations and everything is never exact, what do you think we could do as a society to help?
Richard: Acceptance. I mean, we need to, as a society, accept the person as they are good, bad, or indifferent. If we just show them that we care, we will allow them to be who they are, and we would be better off as a society.
You know, and the beauty of it is that, like being on a court with four other guys or nine other people that had two arms, with no limitations, and I was able to get on the court and be a part of that. That was great. And getting on the court with two other officials that had two arms, two legs. I was able to be a part of that, and that’s the blessing. I never looked at it as being, you know, different.
There are people out there who want to officiate who probably don’t do it because they see similar hurdles. What are your suggestions?
Richard: It’s really the mental, and it’s the mental fortitude that you’ve got to have. You can’t allow yourself to say, I can’t. You know, you’ve got to always see what I can and I will. And I won’t allow myself to be defeated in terms of any limitations that I may have. It’s definitely mental. It’s not the physical. I was always told by my Mom, “If you take the mind, the body will follow.”
(Originally published in ISSUE 2 of the IrREFutable Magazine)
