MSHSAA boys basketball’s all-female officiating crew changing the game

Laura Hagood remembers feeling anxious, but not intimidated.

It was December 10, 2024, when the 15-year high school referee was one of three women to call the first-ever MSHSAA boys basketball game under an all-female officiating crew. The setting was Zalma High School, where the Bulldogs hosted Scott County Central in what turned out to be a historic night for high school athletics in the state of Missouri.

“For me, I was a little bit nervous just because it was the first time it had ever been done in Missouri,” Hagood said. “Just knowing how far we’ve come as women of being able to do this and being able to officiate is amazing.”

Flash forward exactly four weeks later and the next chapter was written.

Along with fellow female referees Heather Davis and Julie Rushing, Hagood continued to break barriers and diversify the officiating landscape at Advance High School on Tuesday night.

The hometown Hornets knocked off Delta 69-62, marking the second time that a boys basketball game featured an all-female officiating crew — a milestone that speaks to the confidence and recognition the three referees earned from their superiors.

MSHSAA basketball referee Laura Hagood before tip off of the Advance-Delta game on Tuesday, Jan. 7, at Advance High School.Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

Hagood, a Neelyville graduate and former Division I player at Murray State University, said she took a few moments before the game to soak it all in and embrace the trailblazing effort she continued to be a part of.

“It was exciting,” she said. “I think it’s so cool that we’re getting to do this and we’ve reached a time to where it’s acceptable for us to be doing this, especially at boys’ games.”

Davis, who has also been officiating for 15 years, expressed her appreciation of the relentless support and encouragement that MSHSAA and the high school athletics community have given her and her female colleagues to be able to make moments like this possible.

“As you can imagine, 95% of basketball officials are male,” said Davis, who grew up in Marshfield before playing basketball at North Central Missouri College and Missouri Valley College. “We have very few females in this area and we don’t get to officiate together a lot because of the numbers. We don’t get to officiate boys games together, but we call a lot of girls games. That’s great, but it’s nice to get to some of the boys action too and have all of us here.”

MSHSAA basketball official Heather Davis walks toward the end line during the Advance-Delta game on Tuesday, Jan. 7, at Advance High School.Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

Inspiration was just as easy to come by for Rushing, another former collegiate athlete (Mineral Area College and Missouri Baptist University) who, like Hagood and Davis, transitioned to the officiating side to stay connected with the sport she grew up loving and competing in.

Rushing was introduced to the idea of becoming a high school basketball referee by former official and MSHSAA observer Charles Buck, who pushed her to try it for “about six or seven years.

“When I worked at Jackson I did the score clock and scorebook for years,” Rushing said. “I always watched them (women officials) and didn’t realize that everything has a purpose. It’s pretty fascinating that you learn that everything they are doing means something."

MSHSAA basketball referee Julie Rushing gets ready to blow her whistle during the second half of the Advance-Delta game on Tuesday, Jan. 7, at Advance High School.Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

Hagood, Davis, and Rushing are now three of several MSHSAA female officials to make history; those who come after them are aiming to make it a routine thing in the Missouri high school boys basketball world.

Davis encourages young women to participate in officiating at all levels, even if it’s a traditionally male-dominated profession. Fortunately, these goals are attainable now in ways they just could not have been even a generation prior.

“Every time we come out here we’re hoping some little girl in the stands is watching us and wanting to do this when she grows up, or even if some girl on the court wants to do it,” Davis said. “Of course the boys too, but we’d love to see more girls get involved and start it at the junior high and varsity levels.”