Wagga's top umpire joins national men's team selection camp at AIS

McLachlan was invited to the camp at the Australian Institute of Sport alongside Western Australian umpire Keenan McMahon to help facilitate the open's squad training and selection camp.

"The experience was amazing, there was a young umpire from West Australian named Keenan, he's only 19 and he flew across to be a part of it as well," McLachlan said.

"So we were both invited into the camp and then there were a couple of umpires from Canberra that came in to assist as well with some games. "

Of the 23 players at the camp, just 12 were selected in the final Kelpies squad to play curtain raiser games during the Constellation Cup between Australia and New Zealand starting in October.

McLachlan said it was a fantastic experience to be invited into the camp, not only to officiate but to participate also.

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"Keenan and I actually did the whole camp with the guys, we did the fitness assessments, which was fun but challenging, a yo-yo test, jogging test, sprint testing, we did media education with them, team bonding," she said.

"We got brought in to umpire the training games, they did training and skills sessions, and we were in there talking to the players about their footwork, their obstruction, and so on.

"Keenan and I helped them with some ideas and how in netball what goes up must come down, and how we can manipulate situations on the court to benefit them."

In a collaborative experience between coaches, players, and umpires, McLachlan said head coach Nerida Stewart kept herself and McMahon involved in every aspect of the camp.

She also provided video footage for the pair to watch their work, and identify what calls they had missed or how they could better umpire a passage of play.

"Every training session she'd talk to us about what she had planned, what she wanted the players to execute, and if we saw anything, footwork or anything, we had to speak up to the players," McLachlan said.

"We had to give them direction and even pull them aside to show them what they were doing so that when they went back out to do the drill they were doing they could fix it up."

McLachlan said the players themselves had an abundance of questions across the camp, and really utilised the umpires available to improve their understanding of the game.

Spending several days with the group, McLachlan said the players were an incredible group of athletes to be around.

"They were a really encouraging group, even in the yo-yo test, when they could see you were struggling, they'd be saying come on Amanda, you can do it, just one more, and then you'd get to the end and they'd say okay and now another," she said.

"They were really good, and they wanted to know what we do outside of netball, they were really interested in our lives as well, which was really nice."

McLachlan, who has been heavily involved in men's netball for several years, said it's exciting to see the national team offered high level training experiences.

She said the men bring a new spirit to the sport and their playing style has transformed the game.

"It's exciting, the men are very talented and very skilled," she said.

"They just bring a different dynamic to the game, their execution of the ball, the speed of their execution, and even their setups.

"They are quite smart players out on the court, so I think the more that these guys are seen in the media and the more that men's netball is portrayed in the media, it opens the pathways up for young boys and for men in general to get involved."

With round one of the Men's Metro League starting in Sydney on August 6, McLachlan's attention has turned to the state's top competition.

She'll travel to Sydney fortnightly to officiate games, and said she'll continue to jump on any elite umpiring opportunities that come her way.

"If they had a training camp, another training session, before they play in Melbourne, and we got an invitation, I'd jump at it," she said.

"I love it."

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