Drouin netball celebrates umpire
Drouin and District Netball Association recently celebrated one of its members receiving a ‘C’ grade badge in netball umpiring.
Louise Allen was tested by Netball Victoria umpiring officials at a combined Drouin District Netballl Association and Warragul District Netball Association open competition match at the Burke Street courts in Warragul.
Louise has been umpiring for three seasons, starting off with 11 and under matches and progressing to higher grades as she gained experience and confidence.
This season Louise umpired open matches in the combined competition to fine tune her umpiring skills in preparation for the test.
DDNA umpire coordinator Karen Thomson has assisted Louise with her umpiring ambitions.
Karen, who has also received her ‘C’ grade netball umpiring badge, assists the young members learning to umpire on a Saturday, mentoring from the side line offering advice, encouragement and feedback.
Louise has been very busy with netball this season, umpiring junior matches while also being an enthusiastic member of the DDNA Sapphires club, playing in the 18 and under games.
She then umpires the open matches for a WDNA team.
At the final round of matches Louise was presented an engraved whistle from the DDNA committee, as well as her name on the Dawn Anderson Umpiring Achievement Shield for achieving a ‘C’ grade badge.
Louise is a valuable member of the Sapphires Club and the Association, and her contribution is greatly appreciated, especially at a time when it can be difficult for clubs to retain umpires.
The Association is proud that she has reached the standard of a ‘C’ grade badge Umpire and wish her all the best on her netball umpiring journey.
Louise is a fine example and will be a great asset for DDNA to encourage other young players to take up netball umpiring.