Juniors swap bibs for whistles at netball umpiring clinic

In a joint umpire development day hosted by Wagga Netball Association Inc, AFL Riverina, and Southern Sports Academy, 119 potential umpires have blown their whistles.

Split into theoretical and practical sessions, junior officiators were taken through a deep dive of netball rules before taking their knowledge to the court in mock games.

AFL Riverina's umpire coordinator Sherylle Sheehy officiated the session with Wagga Netball's umpire convenor Jenny Lewington, and Southern Sports Academy umpire coach Jess McCallum.

"We put the call out, everyone is saying they've got no umpires to kick off their season, so we thought we'd get in during the school holidays and make the most of it," Sheehy said.

"AFL juniors start on Sunday, and Wagga juniors start the following week so hopefully out this 100-odd umpires we'll have enough to go around."

MORE LOCAL SPORT NEWS

After running through the netball rule book and helping the participants better understand when and how to make calls, they were taken outside to the courts.

"We'll get those whistles happening and working on their positioning, and looking, seeing what they can see," Lewington said.

While all 119 participants are unlikely to pursue umpiring and get their national accreditation, or badge, the group estimated 50 per cent of those at the session would continue through umpiring pathways.

"In the past, 50 per cent of the participants that turn up don't ever go on to umpire, but with over 100 arriving, that's 50 more umpires than we had previously," Sheehy said.

Those who don't continue to umpire past the session are still contributing to bettering the game.

"It's a twofold thing, if they don't want to umpire, they actually learn the rules and become better players because they understand what the umpires are penalising them for," Lewington said.

"They understand the rules better."

For those nervous about blowing the whistle for the first time, Sheehy had one piece of advice.

"I always say to umpires, 95 per cent of umpiring is pure bluff," she said.

"You look and sound like you know what you're talking about and the players will believe absolutely believe anything you tell them."

She was echoed by Lewington and McCallum.

"Look confident, be confident, even if you're 100 per cent wrong," McCallum said.

Assuring the umpires that it is okay to make mistakes was part of the session, and helping them understand perfection was not expected or required.

"To be a national C umpire, you only need to get 70 per cent in your exam, you only need to be right 70 per cent of the time," Sheehy said.

Netball NSW region manager Amanda McLachlan said it's good to see young players showing an interest in umpiring.

"It's great to have them start young so they learn as a player on the court what they can and can't do, but also on the other side of it being an umpire and you learn to respect what the umpires are doing when you're on the court as a player," McLachlan said.

Also learning from Lewington when she was an 11-year-old starting on her umpiring journey, McLachlan said it was deja vu watching the juniors learn.

"Putting it all out there, to practice blowing the whistle, it's not an easy job," she said.

"This is a safe space that they can ask questions and get the answers that they're after."

Participants came from across the Riverina for the session, with juniors from Tumbarumba, Hume, Harden, Young, and Tumut mixed among the Wagga locals.

Also attending were a handful of parents, that the umpire educators are hoping will also pick up a whistle.

"Hopefully some of the mums pick up the whistle and stop just being on the sideline," Sheehy said.

"They're always there watching their children, they might as well get a job," Lewington said.

McCallum said that the joint venture has been a positive experience for all three organisations.

"We're one big happy team," she said.

"Being school holidays today we thought it'd work, and it has worked well."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: