Fundamentals were all the talk at the AIA basketball officials meeting Wednesday night. Forty AIA officials appeared at the meeting, an important one with high school basketball season right around the corner.

“The purpose of tonight was to show all (the referees) what they need to do to get better,” AIA official Jeff Barker said.

AIA evaluator John McDonnell, who has been officiating since 1968 and with the AIA since 2002, ran the meeting. He said the goal of Wednesday’s meeting was to focus on judgment and not cut-and-dry rules.

“(Tonight) We continue to build from a foundation of fundamentals,” AIA official Brian Gessner said about the night’s meeting.

There were six types of fouls that were also gone over in the meeting briefly: dribbler-defender contact, screens, shot-blocking, post play, rebounds and off-ball fouls.

Across all three levels, freshman, JV and varsity, and between the boys’ and girls’ teams, these calls become harder and harder to judge, as McDonnell noted throughout the meeting, emphasizing how officials need to be careful while evaluating these calls.

McDonnell also reemphasized the split-second differences between what is and isn’t a foul for the six types of fouls.

“The level (of performance) of our referees are already good, but we are always trying to get better,” Barker said.

The AIA employs more than 300 officials in the Phoenix metro area, officiating football, basketball, baseball, volleyball and more.