Information Bulletin
31 October 2005
Shetland Netball on a high following top umpires' visit
Two of Europe’s leading netball umpires were in Shetland last weekend, leading a umpiring workshop and course for local netball players.
International umpires Ann Curran from Belfast and Maggie Clark from South Lanarkshire, were in Shetland to run sessions on netball umpiring skills in Aith and Whalsay.
The main purpose of their visit was to lead a Level ‘C’ umpires course on Saturday in the West Mainland Leisure Centre in Aith. This introductory umpiring course saw twenty local netball players learn the basic rules and practice of umpiring, including scoring and timekeeping, verbal commands, hand signals, players’ footwork, and control of attacking and defensive play.
The visiting pair of umpires also spent Friday evening at Whalsay Netball Club conducting an open and informal umpiring workshop that proved popular with junior and senior players alike.
The weekend’s sessions offered plenty of opportunities for discussion and questions on the interpretation of netball rules. The feedback from the netball players involved during the weekend was positive and was seen to be of great benefit to the development of netball in Shetland. Some local misinterpretations of rules were exposed during the weekend and information will shortly be circulated to all local netball teams to improve standards of play.
Vaila Hough, Vice-President of Shetland Ladies Netball Association commented "The visit by these two umpires has provided a real boost to the local netball scene and brought Shetland in line with current knowledge of netball rules and umpiring skills. Players and umpires both need a clear understanding of the rules of netball to ensure that games flow smoothly."
Those who attended the umpires course in Aith on Saturday will have an opportunity to gain the Level ‘C’ umpiring qualification by completing a short practical umpiring assessment at a later date, perhaps early in 2006. This award is now recognised internationally by Netball Europe, the European governing body for the sport.
This visit was the first time that Netball Scotland has co-ordinated a development project in Shetland. Rebecca Mitchell, Education and Training Officer with Netball Scotland commented – "The weekend was a huge success and Netball Scotland looks forward to working to continue develop netball in Shetland in the future."
The course was organised by the Community Development Service of Shetland Islands Council, in partnership with Netball Scotland, Shetland Ladies Netball Association and Shetland Junior Netball Development Group.
Ends