{"id":39125,"date":"2018-08-07T16:59:23","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T20:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=39125"},"modified":"2018-08-08T10:34:57","modified_gmt":"2018-08-08T14:34:57","slug":"sue-blauch-86-to-be-first-head-of-wnba-referee-performance-and-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/sue-blauch-86-to-be-first-head-of-wnba-referee-performance-and-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Sue Blauch ’86 to be first head of WNBA referee performance and development"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sue Blauch, a WNBA referee for 20 seasons, has been named to the newly created role of Head of WNBA Referee Performance and Development, according to a WNBA news release.<\/p>\n

Blauch, a Harrisonburg resident, earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in physical education and psychology at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), where she also played basketball under then-head coach Sandy Brownscombe. During her playing years, the team went to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) finals all four years, winning the championship in 1985 and finishing as runner-up in 1986.<\/p>\n

Blauch earned a Master of Education degree in counseling psychology from James Madison University. In addition to officiating, Blauch worked in higher education for 15 years in various roles, including director of housing and residence life and regional director of development at EMU.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sue Blauch (left), then a WNBA referee, joins former teammate Deanna Moren Baker and former coach Sandy Brownscombe at Baker’s 2016 induction ceremony into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Blauch will join the league office immediately. She officiated her final game on July 24 at Indiana.<\/p>\n

In her new role, Blauch will oversee the day-to-day management and on-court performance of the WNBA\u2019s officiating staff. Blauch will report to NBA Vice President Monty McCutchen, who oversees referee development and training.<\/p>\n

Blauch has worked the WNBA Finals since 2005 and officiated the 2006 and 2011 WNBA All-Star Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cSue is uniquely positioned to transition into a leadership role in the WNBA officiating program,\u201d said McCutchen. \u201cThat stems, first and foremost, from the fact that she has earned the resolute respect of players, coaches and, of course, her peers during an exemplary career. Sue\u2019s experience, knowledge and insight into how the league can best support its talented team of referees will prove to be invaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blauch, 53, has 28 years of college officiating experience in the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, American, Big East, Conference USA and Colonial conferences. She has worked the NCAA Tournament since 1996, including the 2009 and 2011 Final Fours. Blauch also officiated multiple conference championship games, including the ACC, Big Ten and Conference USA.<\/p>\n

Her international career began in 1997 and culminated with the 2006 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the Bronze Medal game at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She was among 30 referees chosen from around the globe to officiate men’s and women’s basketball at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. She was one of only two American refs and the only woman in the crew.<\/p>\n

Though she describes officiating as a \u201cpassion\u201d and a difficult position to step away from, Blauch commented in the release that the administrative role was \u201can incredible opportunity to make an impact in an entirely new and innovative way with a fresh perspective while continuing to work closely with the dedicated and talented officials in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sue Blauch, a WNBA referee for 20 seasons, has been named to the newly created role of Head of WNBA Referee Performance and Development, according to a WNBA news release. ... read more about Sue Blauch ’86 to be first head of WNBA referee performance and development<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,17562,5173],"tags":[],"feature":[17427,17241],"class_list":["post-39125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-digest","category-womens-basketball","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nSue Blauch '86 to be first head of WNBA referee performance and development - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/sue-blauch-86-to-be-first-head-of-wnba-referee-performance-and-development\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sue Blauch '86 to be first head of WNBA referee performance and development - 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