Referees Haley Johnson and Christian Wortham got engaged after a basketball game in Texas on April 26
Since she began reffing at 12 years old, Johnson has dreamed about her proposal taking place during a game and was “so excited” that her dream came true
“I was flooded with a wave of emotion as many of our co-officials, friends and family were watching and congratulating us,” Johnson tells PEOPLE
A referee couple is hearing wedding bells instead of whistles!
Haley Johnson, 26, and Christian Wortham, 23, work together at North Texas Basketball Officials Association. Johnson has been officiating for about 15 years while Worthman is entering his fourth year. Since she was a child, Johnson has fantasized about getting engaged during a game — and Worthman made her dream come true.
After “an extremely competitive” basketball game on Saturday, April 26, at Duncanville Fieldhouse in Texas, Wortham popped the question.
Courtesy of Haley Johnson and Christian Wortham
Christian Wortham and Haley Johnson
“I was flooded with a wave of emotion as many of our co-officials, friends and family were watching and congratulating us,” Johnson tells PEOPLE. “I was just so excited I officially was going to get to spend the rest of my life with him.”
Because the game “involved high physicality and extreme focus,” all of Johnson’s attention was on the players and she didn’t suspect that Wortham was up to anything.
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After the competition concluded, the pair were being evaluated by their referee clinicians when Wortham asked his girlfriend to grab his water bottle. In reality, he was distracting her so that he could secretly get his engagement ring ready to propose.
“Once I had brought a water bottle back, the clinician spoke to him and asked, ‘Is there anything you want to add Christian?’ And he responded by saying, ‘Yes, there actually is,’ ” Johnson recalls. “He then got down on his knee and proposed.”
Although one might expect the sports complex to erupt with applause, the proposal was actually quite intimate.
In the corner of the room, Worthman smiled as he asked Johnson to marry him. She placed both her hands over her heart and began tearing up before accepting his proposal, as seen in footage of the sentimental moment posted by Johnson on Instagram.
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“Surprisingly, a lot of the people around us, like the players, didn’t notice it,” Johnson says. “They just walked past, but some people in the bleachers and photographers and stuff saw it and came up to us and started congratulating us and taking pictures.”
The bride-to-be says she has always had “a desire and a passion” for her career and imagined herself “being able to share that love with someone else.” She shared this dream with Wortham when they started dating, and he made sure to never forget it.
“In my head, it all started to make sense as to why I felt like this was God’s person for me far beyond just officiating, but this was just part of it,” Johnson shares. “I just felt so blessed that so many dreams and so many prayers had been answered in meeting him and in this moment.”
“Forever with my best friend was the easiest YES I’ve ever said 😭🫶🏻🤍💍,” she captioned her Instagram post. “My 12 year old dreams of being proposed to during a game just came true 😭😭.”
Her engagement announcement was reposted by SportsCenter, SportsCenter NEXT and espnW.
“We are so grateful for God bringing us together and for the officiating and sports community for just the opportunities it’s given us and for aligning us,” Johnson tells PEOPLE.
Courtesy of Haley Johnson and Christian Wortham
Haley Johnson and Christian Wortham
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The newly engaged couple met more than two and a half years ago at a basketball meeting. In November 2024, Johnson reintroduced herself to Wortham at a basketball tournament, forgetting their initial meeting two years earlier. Five days later at another game, she introduced herself for a third time.
“He was so graceful and never held it against me, so we met through officiating and through our high school chapter,” Johnson explains. “After this, he ended up asking me to coffee after a few days of texting and nothing has ever felt so easy and peaceful to either of us and we shortly knew that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.”
Johnson and Wortham both have goals to move up to the higher college and professional levels.
Read the original article on People
