Rod Shoveller refereed basketball for the sheer love of the game. For more than 29 years, Rod donned his referee”s uniform and travelled coast to coast and abroad to enforce the rules of basketball. Whether working in Bejing or Baddeck, he built a reputation for good effort every time out and was always firm but fair. He served two terms as president of the Nova Scotia Board of Approved Basketball Officials, served as a rules clinician in Halifax, served 12 years as a member of the college board, toured Red China with the National team, was a member of the national committee chosen to compile the first international rule book for Canada, was the first non-Manitoba official to work the prestigious Golden Boy Classic, and was one of the first Nova Scotia referees selected to work the Canada Games. His list of awards includes IAABO honorary citation for contributions to basketball officiating, National Association of Basketball Coaches of Canada Merit Award, NSSAF Certificate of Merit Award, and the J.A. Wink Willox Award given annually to one referee in Canada for outstanding contribution. Rod Shoveller was inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 1991.