Community Official and Coach Lauren Ferguson

Lauren Ferguson is a realtor in Outlook who has made a big contribution to school sports in West-Central as a community official and coach.

Lauren's involvement with West Central athletics and school sports started when she and her husband moved to Outlook in 2017.  They had friends in town whose children attended Outlook High School (OHS) who were already involved with coaching Junior Football. Lauren and her husband were asked if we would also like to help coach this team, which they felt was an amazing experience! This led to them being asked to coach the OHS Senior Boys Basketball team, which was a sport both Lauren and her husband had had experience with as well. Both Lauren and her husband had been athletes growing up, and they felt that getting involved in sports was a great way to give back to the community.

Initially Lauren coached but also started officiating, all within West Central. Starting in 2020, she decided to focus solely on officiating, pushing herself to see how far she could take this side of her career.

Lauren explained: “Being an official is so important to me as it allows me to both give back to my community, both locally here in West Central, and to the basketball community. Basketball was my primary sport growing up and I learned so much from it. I wanted to stay involved and find away to challenge myself with a new opportunity, officiating quickly became a great fit!”

Lauren's advice to anyone wanting to get started in officiating is simple: "Get out there and give it a try!" She emphasizes that officials are a tight-knit group, offering more support than one might initially think. Throughout her career, many great people have stepped in at different points to help her improve game by game.

So far, officiating highlights for Lauren have been her first time officiating HOOPLA in 2019 and the Western Canada Summer Games that same year. Although she has officiated at HOOPLA three times now, the first time was extra special, because it was an awesome weekend it is for the basketball community across the province.

“Officiating to me, is one of the best ways I give back to my community,” stated Lauren. “I get to teach and empower youth within their sport and provide an opportunity for young men and women to see a female in a position that it typically male dominated. I place a high value on the connections I get to make with the local coaches and athletes and try to always provide them with the best game day experience possible by constantly seeking to improve my skills as an official,” she concluded.

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