TECHNICAL OFFICIALS
2019 was a very busy year for the Oceania region for Technical Officials. Along with our usual programme of Oceania events and BWF appointments, our officials were also involved in the Pacific Games in Samoa. This event had over 40 Technical Officials from Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Samoa involved which provided a week of fantastic badminton and experiences for our officials. When badminton was announced as part of the Pacific Games in Samoa, we had no trained Umpires or Line Judges in Samoa which presented us with an opportunity to train local people as one of the legacy benefits of the event. A two-day course was run by the Chair of Badminton Oceania Technical Officials (BOTOC) Peter Cocker with help from Julie Carrel, 6 months prior to the event with ongoing training and assessments held during the event by more experienced Umpires and Line Judges from other member countries. The year also marked the end of Susan Taylor’s term as a BWF Umpire and Richard Bramley made the decision to retire from BWF duties. BOTOC thanks both for their work at all levels of tournaments over many years and we are sure that we will still see them at Oceania and local events. Lynne Nixey was appointed as one of six BWF semi-professional Referee bringing increased BWF appointments. This year the BWF released another manual to assist with the training of Technical Officials – Referee – Level One. Umpire Level 2 and Referee Level 2 are due out early 2020. These manuals will assist greatly in the training of our Officials.
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