Longtime NBA ref’s training highlights new sports officiating pilot at Southeastern

EASTON, Mass. (WLNE) — Students at Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School are learning the tools of the officiating trade — including from those who have worked games on the biggest stage.

With excitement building in New England ahead of the Celtics’ season opener Wednesday, students in the school’s new sports officiating pilot program got to hear from retired NBA referee Gary Zielinski.

Zielinski worked more than 1,000 NBA games and 18 playoff games before he was named Youth & Amateur Officiating Development Lead for the league in 2019.

Once he left that role, he said he wanted to continue the work. He now runs clinics through a group called RefReps.

Students at Wednesday’s clinic had a chance to learn fundamentals — such as positioning and mechanics — so they are prepared when they get out on the court.

“I’m going to give you a foundation, and you’re going to build off that foundation and hopefully one day you’ll be [the] referee that you want to be — NBA, college, whatever it may be,” Zielinski said. “You’re going to be that referee because you started with a foundation.”

Former NBA referee Gary Zielinski demonstrates how to throw a jump ball as part of a training clinic for students at Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School in Easton on Wednesday, October 22, 2025 (WLNE).

The lack of available officials is a well-documented issue in multiple sports.

A survey conducted by the National Association of Sports Officials in 2023 found that a youth movement was needed — the average age of the officials surveyed was nearly 57.

Part of the problem, officials said in the survey, was poor sportsmanship.

Just under 50% of respondents said they had felt unsafe because of administrator, player, coach, or spectator behavior.

Situation handling, especially when it comes to officials’ interactions with coaches, is a key part of what Zielinski teaches.

“A lot of times you just teach them why they yell,” Zielinski said. “They watch the game different than us. We referee the defense; they watch the ball everywhere. If you don’t know that and they’re just yelling, you’d be like ‘This job is terrible. Everyone yells at you. I must be doing terrible.'”

The program at Southeastern started as a five-week after-school pilot.

Seven students completed the program earlier in 2025, and some are actively officiating basketball games in the area.

They are placed through Good Call Officiating Academy, which partnered with the school to offer the program.

That academy also offers students the chance to learn additional sports.

The training varies from school to school and place to place, Good Call Officiating Co-Founder Mark Ottavianelli said.

Ottavianelli was previously the athletic director at Taunton High School, and was named the Cape Cod Baseball League umpire of the year in 2011.

Students that were previously part of the program are now sticking with officiating, some said as a way of staying in the sport they love.

“I really like basketball, and as my season was coming to an end and I was going to graduate high school, I didn’t want to lose the sport of basketball,” Pa’Reese Rosario, who graduated from Southeastern in 2025, said. “I was very blessed and very grateful for the opportunity. I liked watching the games, I liked reffing the games, and I felt like it was a new experience that could be fun.”