Meet Snehal
Bendke, India’s first woman FIBA referee
by rick olivares
Among the current pool of referees
officiating in the 2013 FIBA Asia championships, Snehal Bendke, stands out. She
is the lone woman referee in this pool for the Manila tournament.
FIBA officials are quick to express
dismay over the word ‘woman’.
The 26-year old Bendke had just worked
the Qatar-Hong Kong match. At one point during the game, Qatari center Seleem
Abdulla questioned Bendke about a call. But the Indian referee was resolute in
his decision. Abdulla shrugged then ran back on back on defense.
“I’ve never had any problems
refereeing,” confided Bendke after that match. “I never thought that I am a
woman officiating a man’s game. Not at all. Rules are rules. The rules are the
same whether it’s the men’s or women’s game. There’s a lot of physicality but I
do not get intimidated.”
While studying at the DRK University
College of Commerce in Kolhapur, India, one of the coaches requested Bendke to
watch a basketball game and to find out if she would like to play the game. She
was immediately hooked. “Yes, I was,” she gushed. “In India cricket is the
national sport. But I fell in love with basketball. Michael Jordan was and is
my idol.”
Jordan’s Nike commercial, ‘Failure’
where the greatest of all time talks about rising above one’s shortcomings to
succeed remains a strong and indelible message in her. “It is like a mantra to
me,” she emphatically said.
Bendke then suited up for the varsity
team and later the national team.
After she was done playing, she found
out that there were no women referees in India. “I saw the WNBA and the NBA
that there were woman referees. So I ask why not? My interest increased day by
day. I took the exam and I passed. I started officiating in December 2006. One year I was
officiating the national championships in India then I was asked to officiate
in the World Women’s Basketball Championship and the Euroleague.
She was able to check one item off her
bucket list when she officiated the women’s semifinals in the 2012 London
Olympics. “That was a dream come true. Hopefully, it is not the last.”
Today after Bendke, there are six women
referees in India and many more taking it up as well. “Basketball is growing in
India. You have the NBA now and of course, FIBA, hosting tournaments, clinics,
and events there.”
When Bendke isn’t officiating, she
runs the family business back home where there are various factories that
produce different kinds of products. When she done with her day job, she works
out to keep in shape. “It is not joke officiating. You have to run ahead of the
ball and make sure you are always near the play. I cannot just eat anything and
not work out. I have to keep in shape.”
“When I was playing, I wanted to play
for my country in the Olympics. I didn’t get to do that but I did get to
officiate in one. So it is not too bad. When there are obstacles, I think of
Michael Jordan and his failing many times over before he succeeds.
Hopefully, I will succeed in everything I want to do as well.”
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Here's the Michael Jordan commercial 'Failure'
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