Australian Mens and Mixed Netball Assoication

The Australian Men’s and Mixed Netball Association are pleased to announce the umpires who will oversee the 2017 Australian Championships on the Gold Coast.

With over 40 teams at this year’s Championships, tournament organisers have selected a similar amount of officials to take care of proceedings. The response, both from Australia and overseas, was outstanding.

This year over 40 umpires have been selected, an increase from 30 in 2015 and 34 last year, showing that the tournament is growing in many areas. The umpires are full-time appointments, meaning they will be part of the entire week of action.

The umpires will again be led by AMMNA Director of Umpiring, Maureen Stephenson AOM, and assisted by Lee-Ann Quilter.

Maureen was thrilled with the response from umpires, “to have such a strong a talented group of umpires is a real testament to the growing respect the netball community has for our championships. We are delighted to not only see so many umpires returning, but also welcome those that are new to our tournament”.

AMMNA President, Grant Crocker, couldn’t hide his delight, “having such a strong response to our event is extremely rewarding for all of us. The tournament organisers are doing a wonderful job preparing the event, which includes making sure the umpires will be well looked after”.

The umpire pool will reside together at Surfers Tradewinds Holiday Apartments for the entire week.

We spoke with three umpires to find out a little more about their career in the game.

Name:  Joel Owen

Club/Association/State:  Parkville Netball Association, Melbourne

How long have you been an umpire?  25 years! Time flies. I started when I was 12, you can do the math!

How did you get started?  My father represented Victoria from the Men’s Associations 2nd year of existence and as a child our family travelled to Royal Park (as it was then known) for his training sessions. That was how I learnt the game and the rules. They were always looking for umpires to assist and I loved blowing the whistle.

How many Australian Championships have you umpired?  Scary question! This April will be my 22nd Championship (I believe). I had a couple of years off along the way whilst I explored other sports.

What is the most important lesson you have you learned as an umpire?  As an umpire I firmly believe that we should always look for the opportunities to allow play to continue. The use of ‘advantage’ takes skill and lots of practice. If we can go un-noticed in a game we have done a good job.

What is your career outside umpiring?  I work for CGU Insurance in Relationship and Sales Management.

What advice do you have for anyone who wants to get into umpiring?  Give it a go! Know your rules. Watch and learn from more experienced umpires and umpire coaches and, most importantly, have fun! Nobody likes a grumpy, over officious umpire.

Name:  Elle Bonasia

Club/Association/State:  Queensland Suns, Netball Queensland

How long have you been an umpire?  I started in 2006. My daughter needed an umpire for her under 12 team and I thought “How hard could this be?”, as I was a player for many years. I knew the rules, but boy was I wrong.

How many Australian Championships have you umpired?  Five

What is the most important lesson you have you learned as an umpire?  Age is no barrier. I started to umpire in my early forties and am still going strong ten years later. Know that no one can umpire a perfect game and even us umpires makes mistakes as players do. Grow with each game. Absorb as much knowledge from experienced umpire coaches.

Career outside of umpiring:  Work at a special school as a teacher aide. I work with students who have multi impairments, mainly focusing on mobility and therapy. I’ve been doing it 15 years and I still love my job.

What advice do you have for anyone who wants to get into umpiring?  Read and learn the rules first. Never stop asking questions. Never be afraid to say, “I don’t understand”. Don’t compare yourself to others. You can do it whether you’re young or old as long, as you get enjoyment out of it and are willing to do some hard work!

Name:  Jordan Kiss

Club/association/state:  Northern Valleys Netball Club, Gosford Netball Association, NSW

How long have you been an umpire?  Since I was 13, so I’m now in my sixth year of umpiring.

How many Australian Championships have you umpired?   I only have umpired two Australian championships and this year will be my third. I have also been fortunate enough to also travel to New Zealand with the junior Australian teams to umpire at New Zealand Mens National Championships for the last two years.

How did you get started?   In my first year of umpiring, I was asked to apply for the Rep Umpire Program that Gosford run every year. Which is a training program for umpires of all ages. As part of the program you attended weekly off court training sessions, along with traveling with our associations representative junior teams to carnivals. During both regular Saturday competition matches and the carnivals, being part of the program gave me access to coaching during the games.

My first year as being part of this program, and second year of umpiring, still only being 13, I gained my National C Badge. From there I gained access to many opportunities, such as umpiring Metro League, State and Academy trial and training matches etc.

This is when I applied to umpire Mens and Mixed.

Then at the age of 15, gained my National B badge.

What is the most important lesson have you learnt as an umpire?   Umpiring has taught me patience, confidence and resilience in situations in regular life away from the court.

What is your career outside of umpiring?  I am currently a student in Year 12.