Ted Valentine facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ted Valentine
Born	Theodore Valentine 1958/1959 (age 66–67)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Glenville State College
Occupation	Basketball referee
Years active	1981–present
Children	1 daughter
Awards	Naismith College Official of the Year

Theodore Valentine (born around 1959) is a famous American college basketball referee. He has been a referee for over 40 years! During his long career, he has worked at four NCAA championship games. He has also been part of 10 Final Fours and 28 NCAA tournaments. In 2005, he received a special award called the Naismith College Official of the Year.

Ted Valentine: A Life in Basketball

Growing Up and School

Ted Valentine grew up near Moundsville, West Virginia. His mother worked hard at a factory that made "Big Wheel" tricycles. She often had to be very careful with money. Ted didn't meet his father until he was in junior high school. Around that time, he also started to stutter, so he worked with speech therapists.

He went to John Marshall High School. There, he played baseball for three years. After high school, he went to Glenville State College. He studied physical education and played first base for the college baseball team. He finished college in 1980. Even though he didn't play basketball, he helped out as a manager for the college basketball team.

In 2006, Ted was honored and added to his college's sports hall of fame for his baseball skills. After college, he went back to John Marshall High School. He became a teacher for physical education and driver's education. He also coached sports. In 1985, he was an assistant coach for the baseball team that won the West Virginia Class AAA State Championship.

First Steps as a Coach

Even though Ted Valentine never played organized basketball, he did coach for a short time. When he was in college, he was a student teacher at Weston Junior High in Weston, West Virginia. He was an assistant coach for the school's junior high girls' basketball team.

One time, the main coach was away, so Ted became the head coach for a game. He got into trouble with the referees and was sent off the court before halftime! The school principal told him, "You just coached your last game."

Becoming a Basketball Referee

Ted Valentine decided he wanted to be a college basketball referee while working in a gym during college. He watched the referees and thought it looked interesting. He talked to some referees to learn how to start. He also took a class to learn the rules.

He began by refereeing games for kids. Then, he moved up to junior high and high school games. In 1981, he went to a special referee camp in Bristol, Connecticut. A famous NBA Hall of Famer named Dallas Shirley ran the camp. Ted played a prank there, pouring ice water from a window onto people below. Shirley kicked him out of the camp for it!

But a few months later, Shirley still offered Ted a job as a referee. This shows that even though Ted liked to joke around, he was good at his job.

Refereeing Big Games

Ted Valentine worked his very first NCAA Division I basketball game in 1981. It was at a college now called Charleston Southern University. He earned $150 for that game.

In 1986, a man named Bob Wortman hired Ted to referee for the Big Ten Conference. Wortman wanted to have more different kinds of people on his team of officials. He offered Ted a job to referee 30 games. Wortman even trained Ted himself.

In 1988, Ted stopped teaching and became a full-time college referee. Before his first NCAA Championship game, he almost didn't get in because he lost his official pass!

Ted refereed his first Final Four game in 1991. He worked in 26 NCAA tournaments in a row until 2015. That year, he took a break to spend time with his brother, who was very sick.

In 2021, Ted was supposed to work at the 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. But he had to go home because of rules about COVID-19. He either tested positive or was very close to another referee who tested positive.

Sometimes, people call Ted Valentine "TV Teddy." This is because he can be very expressive and dramatic when he is refereeing games!

Family Life

Ted Valentine has one daughter named Joneesha. He also has a granddaughter.