From the Umpires

From the Umpires Peter BARNETT

What can a club umpire do to be useful?

The enjoyment of playing bowls is improved if everything runs smoothly and games run more smoothly if Umpires are able to arrive at decisions quickly. To arrive at decisions quickly and at the same time correctly the following are what a club’s umpire can do to prepare for when they are called.

Have enough umpires

Work out what is the Goldilocks number of qualified Umpires for your club. (Not too few and not too many but just right).

For metropolitan clubs that is enough to have a qualified umpire available for home pennants fixtures PLUS ONE to allow for when an umpire is not available.

For Country clubs similarly it depends on your pennant commitments. Too few and your club will be reliant on visiting clubs’ umpires to officiate at your home games.

Too many and some of your umpires will not be getting enough hands-on experience to maintain their skills (see maintain skills below).

Join your Match Committee

Disputes referred to the Bowls WA Umpires Committee have a high proportion caused by unclear, unread or non-existent Conditions of Play.

Calling on Umpires experience and training in order to have a good set of Conditions of Play for club events is a wise investment. For example, the rules around Substitution and what can a Controlling Body do if club championship games are rained off, are often not understood.

Continuous improvement

Not all Umpires are the same and that diversity is a strength. New umpires are required to have three years’ experience of playing bowls and after completing their training have learnt the basics but are also required to continue their development.

This can be done within a club by the more experienced acting as mentors to the less experienced.

As a mentor, you should be available to answer any questions or clarifications plus have a quiet word with the less experienced umpire if you see something they might think about.

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The same working relationship can help as existing umpires find their physical capability to measure accurately is not what it used to be.

The most experienced umpire can be Umpire of the Day, but ask the newer Umpires to do the measure.

The Laws of the Sport of Bowls are revised every few years, Bowls WA handbooks with applicable regulations get updated each year and new Measuring Equipment comes on the market from time to time.

As part of Continuous Improvement, club umpires should be reviewing new laws, regulations and equipment to see how they might impact on their club.

Maintain the club’s equipment

For decisions to be made quickly and correctly, measuring equipment must be easy to use and in good repair.

Most clubs have their equipment in a box or on a board with wheels so it can be moved close to where it is needed, but is the equipment inside complete, in good working order and is it easy to use?

For example, measuring the length of a jack is faster if a self- winding or fast winding 30-meter tape is used.

A club umpire’s board/box should include as a minimum:

• A box String measure • A peg string measure (for measurement over the edge of the ditch) • A 30 metre tape • Feeler gauges (wider than your smallest calliper’s small setting) • Callipers. (more than one to give a size range from smaller than the feeler gauges and larger than the smallest trammel) • A set of Trammels. • Laws of the Sport of Bowls (Crystal Mark 3.1. April 2019) • A Boundary Scope and/or a Line Sighter (preferably with legs) • Wedges • White background strips to be used with feeler gauges. • A set square to the location of bowls on the boundary whose edge is hidden by other bowls.

Other useful items to have in the umpire’s box/board:

• A tape measure with a 90 degree bracket and a wire or chain tail. (alternative measure for jack in the ditch and the only measure used from the bowl to the jack) • More wedges as they seem to disappear over a season.

What not to have:

• Surplus old measuring equipment that is past its use by date. Being prepared helps so please try some of the above.