Netball Queensland congratulates umpires Claire Johnson and Rachel Thomas on achieving their national A Badges! Umpire coach Di Cocker has been a significant mentor, among other umpire coaches, helping these women achieve this success.
Netball Queensland Officials Development Officer Cameron Williamson said the achievement is a credit to both women on their commitment to their own development and demonstrates a mindset of constant improvement.
“Clare and Rachel have worked hard to achieve this goal and are to be congratulated,” he said.
“We now have nine on-court national A Badge accredited umpires. The testing panel consists of one national AA Badge umpire (Di Cocker) and two national A Badge umpires,” he said.
To achieve the A Badge accreditation, the umpires must be consistently demonstrating the set criteria on the highest level of netball in the state, which is HART Sapphire Series matches.
Johnson and Thomas have been receiving umpire coaching over previous seasons, and, under advice from an AA Badge umpire, opted to test for an A Badge based upon their consistent performance.
A panel is then organised, and the testing criteria is set in accordance with the National Accreditation set by Netball Australia.
“The difficulty in achieving an A Badge arises because of the limited matches to be allocated to umpire at the highest level and therefore demonstrate their capability,” Williamson said.
“There are only three HART Sapphire matches per round. Additional challenges exist for regional umpires who face limited opportunities to be able to demonstrate they are capable of umpiring at the Sapphire level,” he said.
Johnson said the achievement crowned a lifelong love of netball.
“I’ve been a member of Underwood Park since I was six years old and my umpiring journey began in my early teens. I got my C Badge when I was 14 and my B Badge when I was 16. Over the years I’ve umpired at club fixtures, State Age, QPL, QSNL, Queensland school sport netball championships, school sport Australia netball championships, along with Sapphire and Ruby series netball.
“Achieving my A Level Badge is a new high in my umpiring journey,” she said.
Thomas said her love of umpiring was a driving force that helped her through some critical health issues.
“In 2018 I retired from umpiring due to leg pain after spending 2017 hobbling around the netball courts on crutches and in moon boots.
“Throughout 2018 I worked extremely hard at my fitness and on physio to bring my legs back to full functionality and as a result I’ve had a sensational 2019 back on court with the whistle in my hand!”
“Another highlight in my umpiring story has been seeing my daughter take up umpiring too,” she said.
“Being selected to umpire a pre-season training match between SSN Vixens and Lightning was another special moment for me,” she said.
With their A Badge accreditation both women are now eligible to umpire national 17U and 19U games, along with ANL games.
