Eastern Southland continues to lead the way in netball, with three of the seven New Zealand umpires contracted to officiate at the upcoming ANZ Championship coming from Eastern Southland.
Netball Southland regional manager Juliet Gray said experienced international umpires Bobbi Brown and Alison Cormack had been appointed by Netball New Zealand (NNZ), along with Jono Bredin who would make his debut at this level.
‘‘Bredin, who is currently based in Dunedin, is the only non-international qualified umpire contracted,'' Mrs Gray said.
The three Eastern Southland umpires would be appointed to New Zealand-based games during the 18-week competition, with NNZ appointing New Zealand umpires for the New Zealand games, and Netball Australia appointing Australian umpires for the Australian-based games, she said.
Netball Eastern Southland president Jill Templeton said the appointment of the three was a reflection of the quality of training that took place in the centre.
‘‘It's just brilliant. It says so much for the umpiring unit as a whole in this district. It has been the envy of other centres,'' Mrs Templeton said.
‘‘When you get so many top umpires coming from one centre, something has to be going right.''
Brown said they only found out about their appointment to the games last week. ‘‘They only do the draw at five-weekly intervals, so umpiring appointments are only for the first five games,'' Brown said. ‘‘I'm doing three games out of the first five rounds.''
Brown said the Eastern Southland centre was a great place to be involved in netball.
‘‘It always will be, we've got good players, good coaches and Colleen Bond [Netball Southland development officer umpires].
‘‘When you have the best to look up to, you can become the best,'' she said.
She said she had been to Sydney for a pre-season game, where she had umpired the Southern Steel.
‘‘This is going to be a fantastic competition, the clash of two very different styles, New Zealand and Australia.
‘‘It will be so unpredictable and fast,'' she said.
Brown is tipping the Southern Steel and the Melbourne Vixens to be two of the top teams in the competition.
‘‘The Melbourne team has been made up from two very good teams that played in the Australian league before, so they will be strong,'' she said.
Brown's first game to umpire is on Monday night at Rotorua between the Magic (Waikato/Bay of Plenty) and the Thunderbirds (Adelaide).
Bredin said he was one of two New Zealand male umpires appointed to the ANZ Championship. ‘‘I'm just the baby in the [umpiring] team - the other six are internationally qualified,'' Bredin said.
He started playing netball while at school.
‘‘I was still keen to be involved in netball, so decided to give umpiring a go. ‘‘I'm really excited about the upcoming ANZ championship,'' Bredin said.
His first game in charge will be on Monday April 14, when he umpires the Suzuki Pulse (Wellington) and the Southern Steel, in Wellington.
‘‘I umpired a pre-season tournament in Waipa (near Te Awamutu) and the standard was amazing.
‘‘It's just going to be fantastic. The skill level and the speed of the games is like nothing we've seen before,'' Bredin said.
Netball Southland development officer (umpires) Colleen Bond said all three umpires had been great support for each other.
‘‘There are huge opportunities for umpires in netball today, and I'm thrilled for the three of them - it's a huge step forward for each of them.
Mrs Bond said the fact she had ‘‘been there and done that'', with regard to international umpiring, meant she was able to understand what the young umpires needed and help them.
She said Eastern Southland kept turning out top umpires and they kept looking for new, young umpires coming through the system.
