Netball umpires on the rise across the region

AFL Riverina netball umpire coordinator Sherylle Sheehy said it's been a fantastic year of growth for umpires in the region, with five umpires awarded their national B badges and a further 36 awarded national C badges.

Sheehy said there was a lull in new umpires over the past few years due to COVID-19, but there's been a resurgence of interest in officiating the sport.

"We had a bit of a lull due to COVID like most sports did but it seems to be picking up and they seem quite enthusiastic to learn, the umpires.

"A lot of the clubs are saying they've got more umpires than they've got games to give them, which is a good thing but the problem is if we don't engage them we lose them."

Pleased to see so many young umpires being badged, she said reminding them perfection is not what they're striving for is a key message.

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"It's good for the young umpires to realise that you don't have to be perfect every time you step out, you just have to be consistent," she said.

"I always say, if players didn't make mistakes, they wouldn't need umpires to tell them they made the mistake."

Ensuring local umpires are given opportunities to learn and develop, they were treated to a visit from Netball NSW's Chris Hall and Sarah Hay.

A National A umpire, Hall worked with local umpires over two days, helping them better understand the game as well as providing a demonstration on Saturday afternoon.

Sheehy said it was an important opportunity for C badge umpires to learn from the best.

"It was a joint venture between AFL Riverina and Wagga Netball, Chris and Sarah provided some valuable coaching to our young C badged umpires.

"They provided some valuable coaching and feedback on some game play, then they actually badged five of our umpires across the area.

"They actually umpired a game at Wagga Netball which was really nice for the young umpires to see as well.

"We could sit with them and talk about what they were seeing, how quick their reaction time was, their movement and positioning around the court, and it was quite good for them to see what they could aspire to."

Sheehy said all the umpires attending the mentoring were glad for the opportunity to learn from the pair.

As the level of netball played in Wagga continues to improve, Sheehy said the umpiring must improve alongside it.

With AFL Riverina netball finals fast approaching, Sheehy said the organisation will look to feature only badged umpires in their finals series.

"It's nice to reward them, we reward the best teams in the competition with grand finals and semifinals so it's nice to actually reward the umpires as well for their work through the year and actually allocate them some finals as well," she said.

Sheehy said she's proud to watch the development of umpires across the region, knowing they're performing an often thankless job to keep the game alive.

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