Local Sports Official to Train Aspiring Referees at NVCC Kids on Campus

Waterbury, Conn. - This summer’s Kids on Campus program at Naugatuck Valley Community College announces local sports guru Ralph Zingarella as instructor of “Basketball Refereeing for Fun & Profit.”

The new one-week course is available to local students, grades 7-10, who are interested in earning part-time work refereeing local youth basketball games. It will be held from 9-12pm, August 3-7, at the NVCC Waterbury campus.

Ralph Zingarella has more than 30 years of experience as a high school and college official, working football, basketball, boys’ lacrosse, and softball matches.

“It is as rewarding a job as anyone can have because you’re working with kids,” said Zingarella. “I’m a teacher, and that’s the best job in the world, but officiating is next.”

Zingarella is a member of the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials, Federation Softball Umpires of Greater New Haven and the Connecticut Lacrosse Officials Association. He was inducted into the New Haven Gridiron Club in 2005 and the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 2007. The Eastern College Athletic Conference honored Zingarella in February as a 2008 recipient of the Red Hill Award for excellence in football officiating.

Zingarella has also been a social studies teacher for 29 years, serving as the department chairman at Cheshire High School in Cheshire, Conn.  In 2008, he was awarded with the Cheshire District Teacher of the Year. 

“This is a great way for young sports lovers to learn the rules of the game, get involved in local athletics and eventually earn some part-time work,” said Ron Gagliardi, program coordinator of Kids on Campus. “Plus they’ll be learning from one of the best officials in the region. That’s an opportunity that doesn’t present itself often.”