During the week long training of the Troy Polamalu football camp in American Samoa, a lone official tagged along with the Pittsburgh Steelers star safety in training local officials in American Samoa for football and basketball.

Shannon Eastin who has spent a great deal of her time in the US in training officials and also officiating college games and also being the first female to officiate in the NFL in 2012.

She coordinated together with the American Samoa department of Education athletics division to conduct clinics for football referees. However, she saw an opportunity to move into basketball officials. ASDOE then contacted the American Samoa Basketball Association (ASBA) President, Milton Taufa'asau, to assist in helping bringing in officials to take advantage of this free clinic. Taufa'asau contacted a vast amount of referees to be part of a two hour presentation on Wednesday July 4. On Thursday July 5 and Friday July 6, saw Eastin taking the officials on the basketball floor at Tafuna high school to run live game situations. The Association contacted athletes that participated in the summer youth clinics were hand-picked with U19 prospects for boys & girls to assist with the training. Among the officials were Ryan Samuelu, Fiti Tauaeai, Allen Fuimaono, Tutuila Malaelu and Jaqueline Forsgren. Forsgren participated in the 2011 Pacific games as on official.

The games were really intense as the athletes treated the scrimmage as an actual game in which the officials in training were put to the test. One moment saw a player on defense in a 3 on 1 fast break and had no choice, but to commit a flagrant foul, to which the officials responded quickly to the foul.

After every game, Eastin assesed each official and critiqued them as games went along. Working on their rotation on the floor, hand signals, reporting to the table, zone areas to cover, etc. After the last day of the clinics the players applauded Eastin on her work and were very impressed with the officials during the scrimmages. After the last game on Friday, Eastin adressed the players by thanking them for participating in the scrimmage and hopes to be back on the island to continue her work. She also addressed the officials and told them to continue to work together as team and also be fair with their calls.

Milton Taufa'asau presented Shannon with a gift of ASBA t-shirts as a token of appreciation for conducting the officials clinic. "We hope to continue a long lasting relationship with you in helping better our officials in American Samoa for the future of basketball in the territory," said the ASBA President.

Notes:

Shannon Eastin was the first female referee of the National Football League (NFL). She was hired as a replacement official in 2012 during the lockout of full-time referees which began in June. She officiated her first game on August 9, a preseason match between the Green Bay Packers and the San Diego Chargers. She officiated her first regular season game on September 9, between the Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams. She has spent 16 combined seasons officiating for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, high school games, and for the Arizona Cardinals Red and White game.

Eastin is also active in judo. At age 11, she was the youngest judo athlete to train in the U.S Olympic Training Center. She has also won six national judo championships. Eastin currently owns a company called SE Sports Officiating, which trains officials in football and basketball. (Courtesy wikipedia.com)