SHORTAGE OF UMPIRES IN NETBALL

MBABANE – The Eswatini National Netball Association has a task of widening the pool of umpires.

This was revealed by Eswatini National Netball Association (ENNA) Umpire Committee Secretary Hlengiwe Bhembe during the Swaziland Building Society (SBS) Netball League games, staged at Zakhele last Saturday. Bhembe said the shortage of umpires was one of the challenges that the association was working around the clock to resolve. She said this challenge was also an opportunity for members of the public to join online umpiring courses and contribute to the development of the sport in the country. It also transpired that some of the available umpires had preferences and chose not to umpire certain games due to personal or politically influenced reasons.

challenge

“The shortage of netball umpires is a serious challenge and there is a huge demand since league games are active across the country from elite to regional leagues. Refereeing or umpiring has its own challenges because we judge what we see and the umpire’s decision is final,” Bhembe said. When probed further, she alluded that the pool of umpires gradually dried up over time, as most of them were former players, who after retirement did not avail themselves to officiate in games. Another strong willed umpire and vibrant netball player as well as coach, Mandisa Sihlongonyane said his passion for netball motivated him to take-up umpiring courses. Noteworthy is that Sihlongonyane is also a founder of Vixens which is a male netball team that is part of the ongoing elite men’s netball league.

“I have decades of experience in netball. I have always been a sportsperson but I’ve only managed to play netball recently. There was no official men’s netball league during my school days. “Yes, there is a need to capacitate umpires and we are planning to have umpire courses at the end of the league’s first round. It is not a hard job but one that calls for stern decision making and truthfulness,” Sihlongonyane said.  School teachers were also encouraged to join umpiring courses as a means to professionalise the sport by employing qualified officials starting from primary schools, up to the elite division.

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