First NBA woman referee

Ebony, Feb, 1998

Pioneer, trailblazer and history-maker were among the titles bestowed on Violet Palmer when she made her October 31, 1997, debut in Vancouver, British Columbia. Officiating the game between the Grizzlies and the Dallas Mavericks, Palmer became the first woman to referee a regular-season game for any all-male professional sports league.

And while Palmer, a 33-year-old native of Compton, Calif., and her colleague, Denise (Dee) Kantner, will go down in sports annals as the first female officials to successfully break through the gender barrier, others before them, like minor league baseball umpires Bernice Gera and Pam Postema, carved small but strategic chinks in the wall that had blocked women form officiating in men's pro sports.

Even with her extensive career that includes eight years of officiating women's collegiate basketball, working in NBA summer-league and pre-season games, refereeing WNBA games and playing as a starting point guard at Cal Poly-Pomona, where she was part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association 1985 and '86 Division II championship teams, Palmer herself has hit brick walls.

At the press conference following her NBA assignment, Palmer revealed she was contacted in 1996 by the Big West Conference to work men's games.

"I was told that I would receive games and actually work for the upcoming season," Palmer recalls. "But when it came time for scheduling, they pretty much copped out." Palmer adds that she believes the NCAA didn't want to deal with the pressure of putting a female official in an all-male league.

But in October those walls came crashing down when the National Basketball Association announced to the world that it would add two women to its otherwise all-male officiating roster. And though Palmer is the first female to emerge from the ruins, she hopes her hiring as a regular-season referee, which came a year after the creation of the Women's National Basketball Association (the NBA's female league), will be the catalyst to spark change in other sports.

Not surprisingly, everyone isn't rolling out the red carpet for Palmer. Players and coaches have openly questioned her competence, and some even object outright to her -- and any woman's presence on the court.

Yet Palmer takes it all in stride, confident that she is up to the task.

"I felt like I was one of the top candidates for the job," she says, "and if I performed well, then I would have that opportunity. And here I am now."

While the pace of men's basketball may be faster than women's, and the plays may be more focused above the rim, Palmer says, "One thing we always have to remember is that basketball is basketball and that's where our training comes in."

When dealing with the behavior of players, which could range from abusive language to the obligatory pat on the backside after a favorable call, Palmer is no shrinking violet.

"Confrontation is part of being a referee," she says. "If [the players] cross a line they're not supposed to, then they'll receive a technical foul -- like any player would."

Yet Palmer says her biggest challenge will not only be officiating the games, but earning respect from the players, the coaches and the fans.

"Rookies, so to speak, have to earn their respect, and that's what we are going to have to do," says the former recreation administrator. "We're up to the challenge." For Palmer, it's just all part of the game.