The American Basketball Association today announced that Dereck Baker has been named VP of Referee Recruitment for the league.
“The ABA has expanded dramatically over the past two years,” stated ABA CEO Joe Newman. “This year, we will have well over 1000 games and really need many more referees to handle all of the assignments.  We believe Dereck is the perfect person to spearhead the recruitment. His assignment will be to grow and help develop a great pool of officials that will become a part of the ABA for years to come.“
A native Washingtonian, Dereck served 31.5 years in the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department and attained the position of Deputy Fire Chief until retirement in 2012.  He received the Virginia Governor’s Award for Excellence in Fire Prevention and was a Finalist for Engineering Excellence with the International Association of Fire Chiefs.  A graduate of U of Maryland with a Masters from Grand Canyon University. Dereck is deeply involved with Fire-Training state-wide in Virginia.
He has been officiating high school, college and pro basketball for over 30 years and participates in officiating conferences nationwide and has held the position of Mid-Atlantic Officials Coordinator for the ABA for over 20 years.  “This is a very challenging assignment,” added Baker.  “There is a shortage of good referees at the high school, college and pro levels.  Officiating ABA games is fun with the combination of NBA, NCAA, international and the ABA rules making the games so exciting.  And there are so many available assignments.”  For more information, email Dereck at [email protected]