Umpire Mentoring in North Wales

At the recent LA Hub Showcase tournament in Deeside Leisure Centre, Welsh Netball was pleased to enlist the services of Dani Coxey. Dani attended the showcase to mentor the 6 local umpires who were volunteering at the tournament.

Explaining her role on the day, Dani said: “Today I’m mentoring six umpires – I’ve watched them each take charge of a game and afterwards, I’ve given them feedback. I then watch them again to see how they implement the advice.”

The umpires came from a range of backgrounds and were all at different points in their development, some on their C awards and some on their B. Dani was pleased with what she saw but identified some areas for development. She said: “One umpire was initially quite quiet. I gave her some feedback on communication and now her officiating has definitely improved.”

Dani has developed as an umpire through the Welsh system and has had the honour of officiating at some high-profile tournaments: “I’ve completed all my umpiring courses through Welsh Netball and as a result I’ve been selected to do some tournaments such as the Netball Europe Under 17 Open Championships.”

She added: “I wish all the umpires here today all the best with their continued development. I had some great mentoring from within Welsh Netball and it’s a pleasure to help young umpires today.”

One of the umpires working with Dani on the day was 17 year old Geraldine Hanna from Tremeirchion, Denbeighshire. As well as playing at WD/C for Holywell NC, she passed her C award a few years ago and is now working towards obtaining the B award. She regularly umpires for her club’s division 4 and 5 teams.

She said: “I decided to take on the B Award to umpire at a higher level and improve my judgement. Dani is a very experienced umpire and has been very helpful – she’s given me good advice.”

On the LA Hub showcase, she said: “I’ve enjoyed it – it has been a great tournament with good discipline.”

Welsh Netball would like to thank Dani and her fellow umpires for their great work on the day. Umpires across Wales make matches, tournaments and leagues possible through their hard work and dedication.

You can start your pathway to becoming an umpire, or further your umpiring development, by viewing our latest umpiring courses taking place across Wales: https://tinyurl.com/yd7sdplo