26 August 2013
Honiara Netball Umpires trained under Australian assistance
More than 20 umpires from the Honiara Netball Association successfully completed a skills upgrade training over the weekend with funding assistance from the Australian Sports Outreach Program.
The Umpiring Clinic was part of the Honiara Netball Association’s Improvement Project to deal with the shortage of qualified umpires to officiate in local competitions. The training involved the upgrade of existing umpires and also training for new umpires.
The training was led by Pam Clayton, a netball expert from Tauranga, New Zealand.
Funding assistance to the Honiara Netball association’s Improvement Project by the Australian Sports Outreach Program totalled to more than $40 thousand Solomon Dollars.
Improvements under the project also involved the refurbishment of the netball courts at Lawson Tama and SIBC.
Speaking at a ceremony to handover the certificates to umpires who successfully completed the training, AusAID Counsellor Rochelle White said “Australia is a proud sponsor and supporter of netball in Honiara:
“The role of netball and other sports in the community is central in building skills like teamwork and leadership and will contribute to the development of young girls and women in Honiara and the wider community.”
“Without umpires, there is no netball, something I know from playing netball from the age of 7 growing up in Sydney and even this year playing in the Honiara Netball League.”
“The success and capacity to run competitions like Honiara netball competition rely on dedicated support, hours of volunteering and commitment from key organisers, but also on the commitment of umpires to come along each week.”
“It’s a very important task and I thank each of the participants for their commitment to becoming certified as an umpire and their future contribution to the netball community here in Solomon Islands”.