Ariadna Chueca Moreno, a judge in the men’s basketball league, joined an international mentoring project last year. Chueca Moreno dreams of judging the Olympics and the World Cup.
Determined, teammate, hardworking, friendly, always positive.
Characterizations of colleagues Ariadna Chueca Morenosta provide suitable conditions for many jobs. They also work well when it comes to making sure the basketball court follows the rules book.
Chueca Moreno whistles at the highest level in Finland, in the Basketball League. There are 27 referees in the men’s basketball league, three of them women. Chueca Moreno has not perceived his gender to be a problem, nor does a starvation bite a strong man.
Now the road leads towards larger arenas. This year, Chueca Moreno has judged the Women’s World Cup qualifiers in the United States and the Euroleague in France.
With internationality, the level of demand is rising – also in terms of physics.
– Of course. I have to be in top shape – I still have work to do after the pregnancy, Chueca Moreno admits.
Involved in an Erasmus-funded mentoring project
A year and a half ago, Chueca Moreno got a call from the Basketball Association’s top referee coach From Kati Nynäs. The basketball associations of the four countries were launching a women’s mentoring project, and Nynäs specifically wanted Chueca Moreno to join. It wasn’t a “sober request,” he recalls with a smile.
The mentoring project received Erasmus funding and was implemented from the beginning of 2021. Six coaches and referees were selected for the project, Chueca Moreno was one of them.
There are three veterans in the field as mentors. There are teams meetings every month, but other communication is close. Chueca Moreno says her mentor is not easy to come by: her own doing, her own plans need to be weighed closely.
– This is not out of place for men, but women have different requirements, wishes and thoughts and they need different support when it comes to professionalism in certain matters such as coaching and judging, Nynäs says.
Finland is in a great position in the project. Other countries are basketball giants, namely France, Spain and Slovenia.
– We did not invent this basketball in Finland, but we need international influences. The more our coaches or even the judges go beyond the borders, the more influences come to us and the sport develops here as well, Nynäs assures.
For the International Basketball Federation, Fiba, this is a pilot that can even be exported. Experiences are collected and can be traded even to Asia and South America.
“The best decision ever”
Ariadna Chueca Moreno has a player background. The girl, who practiced many sports, did not switch to basketball until she was 12 years old, because basketball players seemed to have more fun than others.
The exchange was worth it. There is a Spanish championship on the poster for the junior years.
Growing up in Tenerife, Chueca Moreno graduated as a teacher. The idea of changing the landscape arose with her current husband. Speaking English went poorly, but Britain, which was the second option, fell away because it would have drifted into Spanish-speaking gangs and learning the language would not necessarily have become anything.
Therefore, option one: Helsinki, Finland.
The city was familiar from a holiday trip a few years ago, the right size, good English was spoken here and the spouse’s aunt and her husband, who lived in Finland, promised to help start life.
– We grabbed it and it was the best decision ever, Chueca Moreno says.
The playing career continued in 2014 in Hyvinkää, Ponteva, but the refereeing, which had already started in Spain, became more and more interesting. A couple of years later, the horizontal cup turned to that side. The game stopped and no longer continued as a hoax.
– I’m too competitive for that, Chueca Moreno admits.
Now there is a 2-year-old child in her life and a job as a substitute teacher at Ruoholahti International School. The husband coaching at Torpan Boys gives background support and feedback to the referee in the career.
– You have to be realistic and move on step by step. The World Cup qualifier was already a big step. It takes time, there will be ups and downs, but the Olympics and the World Cup – they would be something.