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U/14 SEA Invitational Netball Tournament

The following umpires have been appointed to the U14 SEA Internationals Schools Invitational Netball Tournament!

  1. Kathryn Walden (Umpire Coach)
  2. Christopher Koh (Umpire Coach)
  3. Nanthini D/O Visvalingam
  4. Chan Hui Mui
  5. Suqina Bte Abdul Wahab
  6. Phua Hui Jing, Jacqueline-Ann
  7. Asqiha Bte Abdul Wahab
  8. Connie Yong
  9. Azlinah Bte Ahmad Said
  10. Teng Geok Lan Jessica

They will be travelling up to Garden International School in Kuala Lumpur on the 18th Nov, umpire 2 days of tournament and return on the 20th Nov.

We wish them a fruitful and enjoyable trip!

 

New C Badges Umpires

Netball Singapore would like to congratulate the following umpires for achieving their Netball Singapore C Badge Umpire Award during the 2011 Energizer National League season!

 

C Badge

  1. Lim Chen Yen
  2. Asqiha Bte Abdul Wahab
  3. Neo Ah Geok
  4. Tan Sue-Anne
  5. Genevieve Chase
  6. Teng Geok Lan Jessica
  7. Angelene D/O Narah Singh

We wish them the best for their umpiring!

The following umpires have cleared their C Badge Pre-Assessment and will be invited to be tested at the next suitable opportunity.

 

Cleared Pre-Assessment

  1. Mandy Lim Teng Hong
  2. Gail Stubber
  3. Ong Wenjing Denise
  4. Lee Yu Shan
  5. Jessica Orchard

 

Umpires keen to pursue their C Badge, please write to courses@netball.org.sg for the accreditation process. 

Click here for Badging Application!

 

 

 

 

Breakfast with an IUA umpire on a Sunday morning

It is not every day you  get a chance to get up-close and personal with an athlete at the top of their game. Yes, people forget that umpires are athletes in their own right. They train, practice and learn all the techniques required just like any other athlete.  Netball in particular requires the umpire to be on the move with the game unlike most sports, and hence demands not only the mental but also the physical endurance of the umpire.  Umpiring at an international level requires the most dedicated and experienced umpires to participate in such a competitive tournament. To meet an IUA umpire for a chat therefore, seems like a golden opportunity to learn from people who have been there, done that.

I am sure everyone agrees with me that waking up on a Sunday morning might seem a little to tough on the eyes, but for a chance like this, worrying about how sleepy you are is the last thing on your mind.  All right, fine, the fact that it was going to be at Swissôtel Merchant Court with a buffet of English and Oriental breakfasts is the other perk that could possibly drag you out of bed in the first place.

“Will I be able to understand what they are going through?”

“Is it possible for me to get to that level?”

I started asking myself these questions as I made my way to the venue.  To make the most of my time with the umpire, I also prepared some questions before the meeting.

After a short introductory exchange with the IUA umpire I was paired up with, Marion Johnson-Hurley, and of course, filling my plate with food, the questioning and answering began.

Marion, who has been an IUA for 13 years, had umpired in 3 World Championships as well as many international games, and had so much experience to share, I did not touch most of my food. My attention was focused on her the whole time, as it was a lot of information that seemed fascinating to me.

For example, the feeling of excitement she got when she umpired in the final  of the Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2006 because she felt the presence of the Australian and New Zealand supporters cheering in the background for their teams. She described that it was the best feeling when you are umpiring the best teams in the world in that setting.

 

Questions I asked during the 20 -30 minute chat with her ranged from the standard ones like, “How do you prepare for such major tournaments?”, “What is your routine before every match?” to personalised ones like“What do think of Singapore?” and “What do you do during your spare time in between games?” 

To my surprise, the answer to the last question (which applies to most of the umpires) is that they would either watch the encore telecast of their match on television to critique themselves, or get their next food fix, or sleep! They would rather recuperate and recharge for their next match and not risk a game because of exhaustion to be fair to players who have trained so hard to get there. They consider every game to be a little diffe

rent from the last and thus have to be prepared for anything that happens on court. Resting on their laurels is not an option; they learn from every match that they umpire, even at the international level.

It is definitely not a glamorous jet-setting lifestyle that I thought they had, for all the travelling that they do for international matches. A shared sentiment that they have is the regret of not having the time to get to know the host country more as most of them will have jobs to get back to immediately once these international tournaments end.

The exchanges between Marion and I also made me realise that every one of the developing umpires in that room had the opportunity to attain to the level of an international umpire. All that it required was to accept constructive criticism with an open mind, hard work and passion; the key attributes that got these IUA umpires to where they are. There was no magic formula or shortcut.

It was then time for the “freshest” in the IUA squad, Louise Travis, the “seasoned” umpire Marion and the Match Officials Advisory Panel’s chairperson, Dawn Jones, to bring to light the similarities in challenges faced by us umpires, their journey to be an IUA and how much the game has changed respectively.

The key message from their presentations: Umpires have to constantly adapt to the way teams are playing, as they are now faster and stronger. We must be learning constantly and apply our knowledge of the rules effectively.

It was a great ‘Meet and Greet’ session that any developing umpire could ask for. It taught one that it takes a lot of perseverance and the desire to improve at every game to be a better umpire. It definitely puts things in perspective as at the end of the day, they started from the point where all of us started and they worked their way up. At the end of the session, I remember thinking to myself,“This Sunday morning has definitely been a fruitful one”.

I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of all developing umpires, to thank from the bottom of our hearts,WNC 2011 and Singapore Sports Council for organizing this inspiring network sharing session.

Suqina 

 

 

 

For more information, please go to Umpires Courses. 

For general enquiries about Umpiring, please email to courses@netball.org.sg 

For more information, please click here.

 

For more information, please click here. 

 

Level 1 Umpiring Camp

Netball Singapore is organising for all our Level 1 Umpires, a 2-day non-residential camp on the 27 & 28 Aug 2011 from 9am – 6pm at Kallang Netball Centre.

Purpose:

  • To strengthen Level 1 Umpires’ techniques and skills
  • To prepare Level 1 Umpires for testing during the upcoming Energizer National League
  • To talent identify potential umpires to further development

Topics (not limited to the following)

  • Umpiring Accreditation and Pathways
  • Rules Discussion
  • Protocols and Procedures
  • Practical Umpiring with coaching

Presenters:

  • National Testing Panels
  • Assisted by National Squad Umpires

Cost:

  • $40 (includes course materials and morning / afternoon tea breaks)
  • Register before 19 Aug 2011 and receive a $10 early bird discount (I.e. pay only $30)

No. of participants:

  • Minimum 15, Maximum 40

Registration:

1. Download and complete the registration form.

2. Register & Payment

  • Netball Singapore (9am-6pm, Mondays-Fridays, except Public Holidays) – By Cash or Cheque  (Place confirmed upon payment) 
  • Post – By Cheque (Place confirmed upon receipt of cheque) 
  • Fax or Emailed Registrations – By Cash or Cheque on actual day (Place not confirmed. Check vacancy with Netball Singapore closer to course date)

3. Receive an email confirmation with course details

Online Theory Test

Section Remarks
Section 1
  • Passing mark – 70%
  • C Badge requires 70% pass, B Badge 80%,
The most recent test mark is the result considered current.
Section 2
  • May be used as education paper for NSL umpires (not badge related)
  • Passing mark for A Badge – 90%
  • Exam Papers to be marked by Netball Singapore appointed marker.
  • Exams dates will be set by Netball Singapore

Passes in both exams are valid for 6 years from the date of sitting the exam.

Umpires and Coaches completing their Level 1 certificates and/or updating their Rules Theory will now be able to complete this online Free of Charge!

 

Netball Australia has granted permission to Netball Singapore for our Umpires and Coaches to access their Online Umpire Exam Centre via their website in order to complete the Exam.  This means that Umpires and Coaches who are completing Level 1 courses and/or updating their Theory mark no longer need to sit their Theory Paper at Netball Singapore!

 

In light of this please note that the Theory Test date of 4th April at Netball Singapore is now cancelled. 

 

Umpires/Coaches need to follow the steps below to complete the exam and will be required to print out and provide a copy of their certificate to Netball Singapore for validation and record keeping purposes.   Note that the 70% pass rate still applies and umpires/coaches can complete the exam a number of times if required (there are 5 different online exam papers)!

 

Click on the link above to access to Netball Australia Umpire Exam Centre.

 

 

 

NETBALL SINGAPORE

UMPIRE PROFILE

Vincent Ong

1

Age

34

2

Occupation

Engineer

3

How long have you been in netball and how were you involved at the start?

Played actively for about 10 years since 14 years old. It all started in secondary school when my teacher introduced netball to the boys in my school. We even had inter-class netball tournament then.

4

Do you have any coaching qualifications and experience (please list)

No. Not involved in coaching now. Used to coach companies, poly and a club.

5

Current Umpire Qualification

Singapore A Badge

6

When and how did you get into umpiring?

It is all unplanned. Fate sometimes just brings things into place. Joined LLABTEN Netball Club then with some schoolmates, got to know about being an umpire via the Club, attended umpiring course at Netball Singapore and has since been umpiring.

7

When and where (or which competition) did you get your Umpiring Badges?

Level 1 (Basic, Cadet)

1995

C Badge

 

B Badge

1997

A Badge

2000

8

What major competitions have you umpired?

World Youth Championship 2001

World Youth Championship 2005

Asian Championship 2001

Asian Championship 2005

Asian Championship 2009

Asian Youth Championship 2010

9

Who influenced your early umpiring career?

Ms Chris Burton, Ms Vivian De Silva, Ms Jenny Chadwick, Ms Julie Goh, Mr Roland Goh

10

Best moment in umpiring

Trying to achieve it for every game that I umpired.

11

Worst moment in umpiring

Lost focus and being influence bad temperaments caused by coaches, players, team bench or spectators.

12

How did you motivate yourself to carry on from situations like above?

Develop “que words” to refocus back into umpiring.

13

How important do you think umpires are?

Very important. Umpires uphold the integrity of the game.

14

What do you think of the local umpiring scene now? How do you think it can be improved?

Demand is much higher than supply. We are always short of umpires. There are a lot of games to umpire as Netball is one of the top team sports in Singapore.  But there are not enough people coming forward to be umpires.

15

How do you prepare for a game (mental, physical)?

A good warm-up and stretch. Warming up of vision as well. Mental preparation to the speed and intensity of game.

16

How do you keep focus during a game?

Develop “que words” to refocus.

17

What do you do to keep fit for umpiring?

Lots of runs. A combination of other sports to maintain active lifestyle.

18

What are your post umpiring recovery strategies (physical, nutrition, and hydration)?

Before game, umpire neither on an empty stomach, nor a full one. After game, ice Bath when available with lots of stretches and hydration.

19

What was your worst umpiring/netball injury and how did you manage that (if any)?

Luckily just slight muscles tear on my calf. Most serious sporting injury was an ACL tear. Had an ACL reconstruction. Recovery requires lots of hard work and discipline with the rehabilitation.

20

Do you analyze your own performance? How do you do that?

Take note of feedbacks given by umpires’ coaches and doing reflections of “what went well” and “what could had been done better”, after umpiring.

21

How do you find time above work/study to keep fit and umpire?

Managing time and be discipline to commit time to trainings. Keep fit to umpire, not umpire to keep fit.

22

Share a quote that inspires you the most

Not really a quote… perhaps an analogy. There are good drivers and not so good drivers on the road. It is a fact that one has to acknowledge. Importantly, one has to continually learn and strive to be a better driver and get to the every destination safely.

23

How do you feel about being appointed to Nations Cup and what goals have you set yourself to achieve in this competition?

Glad that the chance was given to umpire such games as opportunities are not frequently available to us.

 

Umpire every game like it’s the World Finals.

24

Finally, what advice would you give to young aspiring umpires?

Have a deeper thought of what umpiring is about. It is not about Umpiring Badges, it is not about praises, it is not about rewards of being able to travel overseas.

 

It is about the players and the integrity of each and every game. It is about the Sport, Netball.

 We wish Vincent all the best for Nations Cup 2010!

 

New Singapore B Badge Umpire

Netball Singapore congratulates Nanthini D/O Visvalingam, who has successfully gained her Singapore B Badge Umpiring Award in Victoria, Australia!

Nanthini has been actively umpiring in Melbourne since she started studying at the Monash University. We wish her all the best in her umpiring and final year of studies!

 

 

Setting the standards for International Officiating

The standard of play at the highest level is rising which in turn presents a challenge to our International Officials to also be at the top of their game.

IFNA's Match Officials Advisory Panel (MAP), chaired by Dawn Jones has been working to develop a number of projects which will assist in addressing this challenge:

Setting Fitness Standards for Umpires

 

At this year’s World Netball Series in Liverpool, research will be undertaken to determine appropriate fitness levels for elite umpires. The present level (Level 7 on the Beep Test) is low compared with other international sports. IFNA has engaged Chris McLeod of the English Institute of Sport at the University of Bath to undertake the research.

 

Umpires will undertake Beep and Sprint Tests while at WNS. During matches, heart performance will be monitored and video footage will enable the distance travelled to be calculated, as well as record the type of movements umpires use. It is also hoped to investigate vision on court with the use of special computerised goggles that record what the umpire is seeing.

 

Umpires will complete a fitness questionnaire to provide background material for the researchers, and in order to extrapolate information across all elite umpires, all IUA will be asked to complete the same questionnaire.

 

The research should be completed in early 2011 and it is expected that new standards will be confirmed then. It is also hoped that this work will lead to the development of fitness programmes designed for elite umpires.

 

From IFNA website: http://www.netball.org/news.aspx?id=430

African Qualifying Championships 2010

Eric Lee, School Programmes Executive and Badge A Umpire travelled to Pretoria, South Africa from 3 – 11 September 2010 to umpire in the African Qualifying Championships 2010.

"It was a good and exciting trip - the competition was quite different from what I had expected; the African style-of-play is really something - very physical, a lot of action! I was in the company of (awesome) fellow umpires from England, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa. Overall, 2 thumbs-up! Thank you for the opportunity!" - Eric Lee, on his experience at the African Qualifying Championships 2010

Find our more on the African Qualifying Championships 2010 here.


 Asian Youth Championships 2010

Vincent, Khiok Sing, Eric and Bee Ling were invited to umpire at the 6th edition of the Asian Youth Champs, held from the 3 – 12 July in New Delhi, India. Vivian De Silva was appointed to the Umpire Panel. Vincent and Bee Ling umpired the Finals between Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

Australian Netball League 2010

Netball Australia invited Vincent, Eric and Bee Ling to umpire at the Australian Netball League 2010. Eric umpired the Perth leg from 31 July – 2 August involving Singapore, Western Australia, Territory Storm and league leaders Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). Meanwhile Vincent and Bee Ling travelled to Darwin from 20 – 22 August to umpire games involving Queensland Fusion, Territory Storm, Victorian Fury and the AIS.

 KL Age Group Tour

Jasmin, Sylvia and Elaine were selected to umpire the National Age Group 14s, 17s and 19s Post School squad games with Bukit Jalil Sports School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 6 – 9 Aug 2010.

 

New C Badge Umpires

Netball Singapore would like to congratulate the following umpires for achieving their Netball Singapore C Badge Umpires Award during the 2010 Energizer National League season!

- Jocelyn Ng Guat Ting
- Connie Yong
- Micheal Ong Sui Chow
- Geraldine Ng Jie Hui
- Zhang Ailin
- Rachel Kho

We wish them all the best for their umpiring!

Umpires wanting to be badged, please refer here for the badging application and process. 

Did you know?

1)      If a member of the opposing team touches or catches the Centre Pass in the Centre Third, Goal Third or with feet astride the Transverse line, Play continues. Rule 12.2.4.

There will be no whistle blown or advantage indicated by the Umpire, as there is no infringement of rules in this case.

2)      Whether attacking, defending or in an effort to play the ball, a player cannot position so closely to an opponent that the player is unable to move with contacting. Rule 17.2(ii).

3)      The first stoppage for each team in each quarter shall be up to two (2) minutes. Rule 7.1(iii).

For every subsequent stoppage for each team in each quarter, the injured or ill player must leave the court and has thirty (30) seconds to do so. Rule 7.1(iv).

The injury or illness must be treated courtside and not on the court. The injured or ill player may be substituted or the position may be left vacant.

The Team Manager may approach the players at the sideline for the purpose of re-hydration.

4)      Team Captains may clarify rules with Umpires during an interval or after the game. Rule 3.5.2.

Now you know!