By Thomas Grant Jr.
Demetrice Phillips gets great joy watching his son Dontay, play junior varsity basketball at Ridge View High School and in AAU.
It also helped him find inspiration to develop a new technology aimed towards making the experience even more enjoyable and easier for all parties involved.
Known as the Enforcer Whistle, it’s described by Phillips as a “next-generaton sport officiating system designed to improve athlete awareness and communication in crowded, fast-paced, and multi-court environments where whistle confusion often occurs.”
The Basketball Blazer Runs held last Thursday at Ridge View High School provided another opportunity to test Phillips’ invention. As many as 24 boys and girls’ basketball teams scrimmaged for most of the day on two separate courts.
A basket near the home stands was used to install the Enforcer Whistle. An official would hold a hand-held Bluetooth whistle which he activates after blowing the whistle for stoppage of play.
Once the official pushes the button, the backboard starts to emit flashing lights designed to help alert the players.
“In a real setting, all the refs would have the whistle and both backboards will light up,” Price said. “The whole goal is to alert players to act quicker and not only be able to hear the whistle, but now you can see it.”
He came up with the device watching his son during an AAU game. During the scrimmage, Dontay was nearly injured after he was unable the hear the competing whistles on the other court.
It took two years of development before Phillips developed in 2 ½ months a prototype device priced at $1,200. The Blazer Runs was the second trial run with the Enforcer Whistle as Phillips conducted the first last month during a scrimmage at the North Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind.
At Ridge View, he received permission from S.C. High School League Secretary Richie Jeffcoat to showcase his device. Phillips hopes to meet with other league officials in July to discuss usage during the regular season.
Along with seeing how the players and officials adjusted to the device, he also sought feedback through a survey. Phillips said he’s received “tremendous” feedback from the players and Blazers’ head coach Joshua Staley who sees Enforcer Whistle as a “necessity”.
“I thought it was a great idea because it’s a whistle to help people who are hearing-impaired and anytime you come up with an invention that closes learning gaps, I think it’s a really, really great idea,” he said. “Especially environments like this like AAU, Travel Ball, shootout environments where so many whistles are being blown, to have it light up on the backboard and the kids instantly know that’s their whistle.”
