BAKER LAKE - A total of 11 officials received their Level One basketball certification during a special course held in Baker Lake this past month.

Receiving their certification were Glen Ullyot, Leanne McLean, Paul Niego, Kent DePeuter, April Aupaluktuq, Steve Patterson, Kyle Seeley and Zach Niuqtuq of Baker, Dave Penney and Tootoo Tanuyak of Chesterfield Inlet and Charlie Barker of Iglulik.

The course was organized by Ullyot and facilitated by Charlie Kurtz of Basketball Manitoba.

Seeley, of Sport Nunavut, said funding was provided by Sport Nunavut and Basketball Nunavut.

He said Kurtz has been instructing officiating clinics for the past 37 years.

"He (Kurtz) was very, very excited about the quality and potential of some of our younger officials," said Seeley.

"He takes officiating very seriously and had a lot of great things to say during the program.

"We all found him to be a super-positive guy and the course was really a lot of fun to be part of.

"But we need more officials, especially ones confident at the level being played here now, and this was a step in the right direction."

Penney, a Basketball Nunavut board member, was attending his first official's clinic.

He said the clinic was well put together and the instructor very knowledgeable.

"It was a really interactive program and everyone seemed to get a lot out of it," said Penney.

"We did a lot of stuff on the floor, rather than just sit in a room and study rules, and that made a big difference."

Penney said Nunavut still has a long way to go in developing its officiating program. He said it's going to be a long process because there's not many tournaments held every year.

"It's not unusual for a couple of tournaments a month to be held in the south.

"We're lucky if we have two a year and that makes it difficult for new officials to practice what they've learned."

Penney said coaches and organizers can help by holding more local games for officials to get out on the court and work on their skills.

He said that's especially true in smaller communities like Chester.

"I took one of our former players (Tanuyak) to the clinic and he seemed to do very well there.

"He's the type of guy who can spend evenings on the court with the kids to practice what he's learned.

"But you need two officials to ref a game properly, so we still need to see a lot more people get involved."

Penney said players from larger communities that have officials come out on a regular basis have a big advantage at tournament time.

He said smaller communities often have to rely on coaches to explain the rules and officiate practice games.

"Having quality officials helps players develop.

"Players can actually learn from good officials and tend to be more confident when they play in tournaments."