Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
LOCAL umpires might have missed whistles to officiate at the coming Netball World Cup Qualifiers and the global showcase next year, but the country’s officiating stocks are on the rise.
This comes after the Zimbabwe Netball Association recently opened doors to up-skill local umpires and bench officials through accredited training under Africa Netball and the global mother-body.
The push is aimed at getting more Zimbabwean whistles into international circles.
At least 28 netball officials undertook and graduated in the COSANA Bench Officials Courses under Africa Netball in Harare recently.
The programme covered core technical areas like match statistics collection, international-standard score recording, timekeeping and interpretation of the World Netball score-sheet.
World Netball also had trainers visiting Zimbabwe to grade umpires for the first time in years. One local umpire was trained towards Africa A grading, which is the top continental badge, while others did Africa B+, B and C.
With an Africa A grading, the Zimbabwean official becomes eligible for selection to major tournaments like African Championships, World Cup Qualifiers and other World Netball sanctioned events.
For a netball nation that has tasted World Cup action thrice, the recent development restores belief.
This has opened the door for locals to stand a chance to qualify to officiate in tournaments such as African Championships, World Cup Qualifiers and other major tournaments in the future. ZINA technical director John Banda said the developments provide a huge platform for Zimbabwean officials to crack on to the international stage.
“We have been waiting for such opportunities for a long time, and seeing those courses come to Zimbabwe means that we are in the right direction in rising to be a force globally,” he said.
“Global netball trends and rules are evolving, and such courses are what we need to keep up, and I believe this is the start of something that we will see more often going forward.”
Banda said the 28 officials who graduated in the Bench Officials courses will be deployed to train officials in the ZINA provinces to ensure netball standards improve in all zones.
“Once we have the course in provinces, then we know that we are speaking in one voice across the nation; we want our standards to improve right from the grassroots,” he said.
