Our Origin Energy Premier League Umpires had been working hard in the lead up to the 2022 Premier League season to ensure they were ready for round 1.
February saw the group attend an A Camp which covered a number of sessions on various topics, including; a review of the Umpire Culture this was led by Performance Psychologist Karen Haddad, a practical session with the recently inducted NSW Legend, Maureen Boyle (OAM), Tara Warner (SSN and International Umpire) and Helen George (NSW Performance Umpire Coach). We also had the privilege of having recently inducted NSW Hall of Famer, Sharon Kelly (OAM) talk to the group about getting the most out of their video analysis.
In the afternoon the group were fortunate enough to have Jill McIntosh (former Australian Coach, player and umpire) share her thoughts on umpiring from a coach’s perspective, enabling the group to think about umpiring from a different perspective. The Camp came to a close with members of the Netball NSW Performance Umpiring Committee, Collette Brennan and Duncan Lang, presenting a session on reading the game.
Along with their personal strength and conditioning training, the umpires have had 6 tough weeks as a group going through their paces with the Academy of Sport Speed Australia. Ranell (Director of ASSA) customises training sessions for the umpiring group to help them with their speed, agility, flexibility and strength.
Pre-season has also seen the Premier League umpires travelling around and getting on the court attending a variety of training matches to prepare themselves for the season, and improve on their umpiring techniques.
After two disrupted seasons, the umpires are looking forward to umpiring a full season and can’t wait to get out on court!
Find out more about our Umpires by visiting their Bios page on the Origin Energy Premier League website: https://www.nnswpremierleague.com.au/match-officials/umpire-bios/
