Blackfeet Referees Make History in First Game Officiated by All-Women Crew

The three referees exchanged looks of enthusiasm before the freshman girls basketball game started. The moment was subtle and short-lived before focus turned to the Feb. 21 game, but the excitement was palpable for a different reason — it was the first time a group of all-Blackfeet women officiated a game.

“Seeing all three of us on the schedule for it, we were like, ‘oh my god, that’s cool,’” one of the referees, Tayler Calf Boss Ribs, said. “We didn’t think we’d get much appreciation for it.”

The moment, however, quickly blew up online after a post of a photo on Browning Public Schools’ Facebook page received 10,000 likes. The Montana Indian Athletic Hall of Fame also reposted the photo.

“Shout out to the Browning Officials Pool as they featured three female referees working the same basketball game for the first time in history!” the Hall of Fame’s post read.

Vic Hall created the Browning Officials Pool in 2007 due to persistent reports of bias favoring non-Native officials, and to give Native referees previously part of the Golden Triangle Officials Pool more opportunities to oversee varsity games. One of his sons, Kellen Hall, a referee and the athletic director for Browning Public Schools, said the new referee pool brought immediate changes when it opened under the Montana Officials Association (MOA).

“After that happened, I went from zero varsity games to doing anywhere from 18 to 23 a season,” Kellen Hall said. “It gave us notoriety in that sense.”

Today, a referee shortage plagues the Browning pool, reflecting state and nationwide trends. Refs cite the constant criticism and at times abusive behavior from parents and fans at youth sports as a primary reason for quitting or not entering the field. In addition to the shortage, and perhaps contributing to it, men have mostly dominated referee pools.

“Fans are different now; officials take a lot of blame,” Kellen Hall said. “Altogether recruitment is tough.”

In the past few years, however, four women — including Calf Boss Ribs, Eaglewoman Armstrong, and Jazlyn Wells — have joined the Browning/Heart Butte referee pool.

Calf Boss Ribs teaches fifth grade at Napi Elementary School in Browning. Shooting hoops since she was 5 years old, her love of the game inspired her to become a referee last November.

“Just being there for the kids and letting them get to play the sport and all of that is actually what motivated me to become an official,” Calf Boss Ribs said.

She’s made calls that someone in the crowd didn’t like, taking the criticism with a “grain of salt” and relying on her professionalism to finish the game, she said.

“Most of the times parents don’t mean it, the fans don’t mean it, and it’s just an in-the-moment kind of thing,” she said. “I’ve had to give myself that pep talk many times.”

Armstrong’s father, Pat, has refereed her whole life, and has spent much of it trying to convince her to do the same. Now a single mother looking to make some extra money for her daughter, Armstrong took the MOA tests earlier this year at the encouragement of Wells, a close childhood friend and fellow referee.

“I grew up watching my dad and I’ve seen a lot of what he went through,” Armstrong said. “You do kind of have to have thick skin as a ref. Going into it as a woman, too, I didn’t know how well I’d take criticism from fans or spectators … It’s a good learning experience. I enjoy the people in the pool, too, they’ve been really supportive.”

Wells is a lifeguard at Glen Heavy Runner Swimming Pool, which Vic Hall manages. He eventually talked her into becoming a referee in February last year. Like Armstrong, Wells has also played basketball most of her life, and described learning the technicality of the play as a rewarding learning curve.

“It’s all known to me, seeing how I played ball and everything, but learning it being on the reffing side, you have to really watch everything a lot more compared to when you’re actually playing,” she said.

Kellen Hall and others on the scheduling committee for the Browning referee pool watched as the three new referees quickly progressed. Mapping out February’s games, they were able to line the women up and have them officiate a game on their own.

“They’ve all been hitting the ground running and improving,” Kellen Hall said. “All the men were excited about it.”

The Feb. 21 freshman girls basketball game, Polson versus Browning, ran smooth, the referees recalled.

“Just being an all-girl group, it was really amazing,” Wells said. “Just being a Native ref out there is a big privilege. Being Native, there’s not as many opportunities to represent where you’re from. You don’t see a lot of Native women referees. It’s really nice to have community stand behind you and support you … It’s a win for the whole community.”

Since the game, more women have reached out to the referees and Kellen Hall to inquire about officiating and how to get their MOA patch.  

“It just totally empowers the Blackfeet women in our community,” Kellen Hall said. “Our youth see it as something they can reach for. They’re not afraid to get out there with the crowds.”

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