David Carter and Bishop Eugene Bellinger are friends who have known each other for over 20 years. Bishop Bellinger is a renowned speaker, teacher, trainer, and developer for church growth strategies, relationship fundamentals, and business procedures. He also serves in business, academic, economic, sports, medical, and mental health communities. David was surprised to learn that Bishop Bellinger is also a referee. Bishop Bellinger explains that he got into refereeing after watching his grandson's basketball games and seeing that the coaches were not treating the kids well, nor were the parents, and the officiators were not kind to the children. He decided to become a referee in order to make a positive change in the sport.The speaker, an educated psychologist and experienced referee, has a self-care project which is fish shading four months out of the year. He also took on coaching basketball, and was determined to improve the situation he saw which was coaches treating the players poorly. He decided to get certified and educated in the States, and applied all of his knowledge in psychology and sociology as well as business principles on the floor. He set the best example for the coaches, not becoming like them, and made sure that the kids could trust him. He also told the kids to make the referee their best friend on the floor. He understands the kids and their behaviour, and so he is not quick to call technical fouls.This conversation is about the importance of having a good character when playing basketball. It is not enough to be an amazing player, as one must also show good character traits to make it in the professional ranks. Factors such as facial expressions, body contour and how one responds to referees are all taken into account. Referees have a designated primary area of coverage which they must stay true to, and not let any negative comments or calls against them defeat them. In this way, they must have a strong sense of self and be able to handle adversity. This is an important lesson that can be applied to other areas of life such as work and church.Timestamps