Umpire Profile

Janet Edeling – International Umpire SA

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janet-edeling-2

I started umpiring in 2000, almost by accident, after sustaining an injury as a player and not being ready to walk away from my love of netball. I was awarded my first SA grading (C) in 2003; with an A award in 2008 at the SA senior championships in Pretoria. ITID status (‘’ internationally talent identified’’) was awarded in January 2013, in the form of an e-mail – what an unexpected and delightful surprise!

Apart from local tournaments (Wildeklawer, Brutal Fruit, Varsity Cup and SA championships), I officiated at the following as an ITID invite:

  • August 2014 Africa Netball World Cup Qualifiers, Botswana
  • January 2015 English Super league, England
  • June 2015, Diamond Challenge, Margate, South Africa
  • June 2015, African Championships, Botswana
  • May 2016, Netball Europe, Newcastle, England

In June 2016 I was invited to umpire the u/21 test series, SA vs Wales, in Durban. During this series, a “test” match was scheduled and I was awarded an IUA badge on 19 June 2016, culminating in a lifelong dream being realised on home soil.

Extract of interview between Annie Kloppers and Janet Edeling:

AK: When did you finally realise that you are a talented umpire and that you could ultimately reach the top level in netball umpiring?

JE: For me, everything started with the dawning of self-belief, the realisation that I actually have it in me to succeed – unless that moment arrives, one would probably never really achieve one’s dream. Many people, including co-umpires, have played a huge role in nurturing that talent and awakening the quiet confidence that needs to propel the moving towards the dream – they know who they are and I am eternally grateful to them.  Getting an A badge was the very first step towards an entirely new chapter in my life, but being internationally talent-identified caused a tremendous shift in focus. Finally, at Netball Europe this year, I realised that the talent, motivation from mentors and hard work could actually come together to ensure that my dream became a reality.

AK: What are the steps that an umpire has to go through to finally attain that much eluded IUA badge?

JE: One needs to begin with getting your SA A grading, and then steadily work towards achieving consistent levels of umpiring and supreme fitness as an elite athlete. This will get you to tournaments where you might get noticed and nominated as an ITID. Having ITID status is probably one of the toughest levels of umpiring to endure – the scrutiny during this time is never-ending, the criticism unrelenting and the levels of fitness required can be exhausting. Somewhere during this period, one needs to successfully pass a ‘’screening’’. The final leap to attaining the IUA award comes down to a ‘’test’’ match  – but ultimately, on the day, it is about giving your best performance.

AK: please explain in more detail what ‘’screening’’ and ‘’testing’’ entails?

 JE: ITID status is awarded by INF (International Netball Federation) usually for a period of 4 years. During this time, at least 2 ITP (International Testing Panel) graders need to see you umpire at international tournaments, submitting reports to INF. Should they feel  that you have reached a sufficient  level of competency, you will  pass ‘screening’ which means that they deem you ready to officiate a ‘test’ match.

A ‘test’ match is arranged by INF  – this match needs to be of a sufficient level of play to allow the tested umpire to perform at a high level. 2 individual ITP graders assess you for the full duration of an hour game, grading the performance via a point system, based on 8 criteria  – communication, position and timing, vision, minor infringements, contact, obstruction, advantage and game management.

Feedback of your performance and the result of the testing must be given verbally to the candidate, directly following the game.

AK: could you highlight some highs and lows of your journey?

JE: One of the lowest points in my umpiring career was going to the UK in 2015, to umpire in the UK Super league, and not getting more games after my first one. It was one of the most challenging times in my career as an umpire, but was then transformed into one the richest learning curves of my life – I picked myself up, embraced the opportunity to learn more and quickly set into practice what I gained.

Truthfully, every single match is a high point – in the words of Forrest Gump: umpiring “…is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get.”

Some of the remarkable high points of my umpiring career are the first live screening of a match at Varsity Cup in 2013, umpiring Malawi vs South Africa at the Diamond Challenge in 2015, my test match this year when I was awarded  IUA status and finally, the day when my IUA kit arrived for the very first time.  It felt like Christmas!!

AK: Please explain to us what your profession is, and how do you combine your professional career with that of being a top umpire?

JE: I am an Ophthalmologist – a specialised eye surgeon in a demanding private practice.

Balancing the growing demands on one’s time and the fierce desire to be at the netball court, whilst still maintaining competency and presence in my practice, is one of the more challenging aspects of my umpiring career – but because this is my passion, I make it work. Sometimes it involves making difficult choices between work and netball.  All I can say is: without the love of netball, good planning, a very effective receptionist, 2 understanding partners and a very supportive husband, this would not be possible. Thank you to my team at home!

Events | Courses

Advanced + Intermediate Umpires Course

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2016 was a year of many changes and uncertainties.

This Exciting 2017 Course is going to be mainly practical, where we will, by using scenarios and positioning, teach you how to implement the most important new rules and help erase the “grey areas” of confusion.

Date:     20 January 2017 (17:00-20:30)

21 January 2017 (09:00-16:00)

Place:    Stellenbosch High School, Western Cape

Course Presenters:         Annie Kloppers and

Anso Kemp (International Umpire – based in Somerset West, Western Cape)

Closing date 7 December (to be in time to order a sevens long sleeve top as part of the course fee)

advanced-umpires-seminar-2017

Rules

End of play or quarter

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*Umpires should indicate the end of a period of play with a long whistle roll and there is no hand signal!

INF Match protocols,  Page 2 Rule 6 (i) (d))

*The timekeeper advises both umpires simultaneously when the specified time is reached. The controlling umpire immediately ends play unless it is to be extended for a penalty pass to be taken [Rules 4.1 (iii) & 7.1.3 (iii)]. In this case the umpire will advise the players that play is being extended for the sanction to be taken. In the event the controlling umpire is unaware play should end, the co-umpire will signal the end of play [Rule 5.2.1 (ii) (a)].

  • After the penalty pass is taken and the shot is unsuccessful there is no whistle… the umpire walks off court with her co-umpire.
  • If there is any obstruction or contact, etc. on the shooter taking the shot – the infringement will be penalized or advantage played if successful.
  • If the shot is successful the umpire only shows the appropriate signal for a goal that’s been scored.
Umpire Profile

Annchen Nel – Sports Journalist

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“I cannot seem to get away from netball! It keeps following me around!”annchen-nel

This is the response you get when you ask seasoned sports journalist Annchen Nel why she is still reporting on all things netball after almost 20 years. 

“I love sport, but netball is what I know best. It’s my passion. And because it’s South Africa’s largest women’s sport, I help to make sure we give it good coverage.”

 

Annchen joined Die Burger’s sports team in 1997 as a sub editor and layout artist. Reporting was far from her mind. However, she says it soon became clear that the newspaper was in need of more coverage of netball, especially local netball.

 

Annchen got her first taste of netball reporting when her sports editor sent her to a Western Province press conference.

“I can’t recall if it was in 2000 just before the national championships in Bellville, or before that.

“Anyway, it was then that I became a netball reporter.

“I got to know the netball community, the players, coaches, administrators and umpires. Some became friends, and others good acquaintances.”

Annchen has been working for Die Burger since May 1996, but netball supporters also read her reports in Beeld, Volksblad and Rapport.

 

Annchen says netball took her to many training sessions and tournaments, big and small. From Netball Boland’s annual Southern Tournament to Western Province club games to the SA championships to test series around the country.

“In 2004 I was privileged to be invited to England with the SA team.

“It wasn’t always easy to ride on a bus with the team when they weren’t performing well. You still need to be objective and critical.”

She says the highlight was a trip to the World Championships in 2007 in Auckland.

“Netball is just so huge in New Zealand and Australia. To see how such a tournament is organised and the attention they give to the media was special.”

She says she never misses a test match on TV between those rivals. “It’s just as special as a rugby test between the Springboks and the All Blacks.”

In August 2008 she handed the netball beat to a colleague, because “I needed a change of scenery’’.

Annchen joined Die Burger’s night newsroom – the engine room of the newspaper where the next day’s paper is laid out like a puzzle.

However, her interest in netball never faded, and after the stint as “a lady of the night” and a sabbatical, she returned to the sport’s office in July 2015.

“I returned to what I know and love, and that is sports reporting and sports content editing.”

Annchen has since been the assistant sports editor and is currently the acting sports editor.

“Nowadays, I can’t get out of the office as much as I like, but I try to attend local matches. And I do my best to find time to do interviews with players, coaches and referees.

“Ruan (Bruwer, of Volksblad) and I have a good working relationship. He’s done most of the netball reporting this year, and I make sure his reports and pictures get a deserving place on the sports pages of the Afrikaans dailies.

“Nowadays we also write for Netwerk24, our digital partner.’’

Annchen says she is looking forward to seeing the Proteas take on England, Australia and New Zealand on their home turf in January and February 2017.

Attached two interviews by Annchen (Afrikaans):

Rules

Deflecting a shot at goal

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Innovative ways of defending a shot (such as lifting a defensive player) have required this rule to be addressed.  Some of the very tall players have just stood next to the post to deflect the shot at goal – making no other effort.

Deflection of a shot can now be made during only the upward path of a shot towards the ring. Once the ball starts to descend, no deflection is permitted.  The lifted player (from take-off) must be 3ft from the shooter.

 

It’s technically very difficult to do it as you can see from the image.

 

The clip youtu.be/-WDkcmiWWmA is from 2012 when the first player was lifted to deflect the shot at goal……….quite a shock for an umpire to see it the first time.  Now it’s illegal because some of this deflections was made on the downward pass – PENALTY PASS (and the lifted player is out of play).

 

Please try this and send me a mail if you succeed – better still; send a clip!

News

Why Spectators Should Suck it Up and Move On

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It’s time to give umpires a break.

Unless you’ve pulled on the whites (or greens, reds, blues, striped black and white etc.), you have absolutely no idea how difficult it is to umpire sport. I’ve done the breakdown for a game of netball, and the (admittedly slightly dodgy) stats are terrifying.

A standard game of netball is 60 minutes. In a game of netball, the ball has to be passed at least every three seconds. This results in the ball being passed, at an absolute minimum, 1,200 times a match. Every time a player catches the ball, an umpire has to check seven things involving the player with the ball and their opponent (footwork, contact, how they got the ball, obstruction, offside etc.).

Almost simultaneously, the umpire has to look down the court and check other players are in their correct areas and are not blocking each other in their attempts to move. This could involve scanning 10 different players, while keeping one eye on the player with the ball and their opponent.

So that’s seven things involving the player with the ball, plus potentially another 10 players to watch, each with three actions involved (contact, obstruction and offside). That’s 38 different actions to watch for per pass, including the held ball rule. 38 times 1,200 passes equals 45,600 decisions umpires make per match. Even if that figure is split between the two umpires, that’s still 22,800 decisions each.

22,800 decisions a match! And that’s assuming players take the maximum three seconds to pass the ball. The real figure is probably much higher.

So it may be time to lay off on the umpire abuse. Each sport has its own difficulties. I can’t imagine trying to decide the precise moment when a player has held the ball in footy, and I’ll never understand the offside rule in soccer. Trying to ascertain the difference between a charge and a foul in basketball must be near impossible sometimes. And it bewilders me how cricket umpires can call an LBW so accurately (most of the time), or how tennis linesmen can pick balls up going over 100km/hr.

This plea will probably fall on ears deafened by their own booing over the years, but give umpires a chance. I know myself I’m not one of the easiest players to umpire, as I obviously know every single rule (as does every player I’ve ever umpired). I’m not here to defend lazy umpires, one of my pet hates. But if a 15-year-old is umpiring grown women, and you offer them a pair of glasses, accuse them of bias or tell them they’ve made the worst decision you’ve ever seen, it’s probably time to take stock of what you’re actually doing.

People will say this comes with the territory of umpiring, and that we should just suck it up. I’m well aware other umpires from other sports have it much worse off than netball, which is comparatively genteel sometimes (although I did have to break up something verging on a brawl on the weekend).

But maybe we shouldn’t have to suck it up.

Maybe you, the spectator, or you, the player, has to suck it up. When a decision doesn’t go your way, act like an adult and move on. Because chances are the next dodgy decision (out of 22,800 may I remind you) may just go your way. A commentator at the Hawthorn vs Richmond match, the first after a week of Adam Goodes discussion, remarked, “And booing has returned to the MCG tonight, but it’s okay because it’s just at the umpires.”

Since when was it okay to boo human beings doing their job? Would you like it if I turned up to the house you were building, and spent an hour criticising everything you were doing, even though I clearly had absolutely no idea about the technique or skill involved? Or leant over your shoulder every few lines and offered you a pair of glasses while you wrote a business proposal, despite never having studied business in my life?

Of course people are passionate about their sport. I’m passionate about my sport, and groan along with 50,000 other people when a decision doesn’t go Richmond’s way at the footy. But do I boo umpires? Never. Because I know what it feels like, and I have a vague idea at the immense difficulty involved (although not to the same elite level of course). People see umpiring decisions through one eye – the eye of their team. Maybe it’s time to open that other eye a fraction and see things a smidgen more objectively.

Especially when it comes to abusing umpires at club level, who are mostly teenagers trying their absolute heart out, and are absolutely terrified by the vitriol coming towards them both on and off the court/field. It’s time to draw the line, suck it up, and be an adult.

You may not agree with the decision, but you should respect it.

And if you’re a parent going absolutely nuts at the umpires during your 23-year-old daughter’s club level, section 3 semi-final, it’s probably time to stop playing your sport vicariously through her, and grow up.

September 11, 2015 by Sarah Black

Umpire Profile

Theresa Prince – International Umpire SA

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THERESA PRINCE, 47 years of age and live in a little town just outside Port Elizabeth called Despatch. she is the face of Despatch High School doing all the marketing as well as netball and umpire coaching. Sport is in her family’s blood and she is married to Deon Prince, a rugby referee and have two stunning Prince boys, Taine (Son of God) – 16 years and Ryan (Little King) – 13 years.

She obtained her SA “A” badge in 2006 at Port Elizabeth. During August 2009 she was screened in the Cook Islands and four months later she was blessed to receive her IUA (International Umpires Award) during January 2010 in the UK. Receiving her IUA badge was made even more special as it was one of the coldest winters in the UK, she arrived in -9 decrees, and all transport was cancelled due to heavy snow. All her pre-matches was snowed out and on testing day the snow kept falling. She was ready to return to South Africa without getting the opportunity that every umpire dreams off. Mid-day a call came through and it was game time. She knew she had only had that one chance and she had to give her all on my her live broadcast netball match.

Her hobbies and past-times are Crossfit gym, swimming, scrapbooking, movies & netball life skills for youngsters.

When asked what do you really find special when travelling overseas as an umpire?

The most special moments are when I attend practice sessions and rub shoulders with the best players and coaches around the world!

Click here to see Theresa’s CV.

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