How to become a netball club’s Umpire Convenor
Being an umpire convenor helps you build great interpersonal skills that are invaluable in the workplace.
The Umpire Convenor role is a volunteer position on a club’s executive committee. Titles for it may differ across states/countries, so you might also know it as one of the following:
Umpire Coordinator
Umpire Allocator
Umpire Administrator
In basic terms, they’re the person responsible for allocating umpires to matches.
Who can be an umpire convenor?
There are usually two ways people end up in this role:
The passionate umpire: You love the whistle and want to help others learn and grow.
The local club hero: No one else is stepping up, but the position can’t be left vacant.
To put it simply–anyone can be an umpire convenor for a club. It’d be ideal for you to be an umpire yourself so you can develop others, but it’s not a requirement.
It’s one of the most important roles to fill on a committee because netball can't function without umpires, and clubs can't function without someone to organise said umpires.
Prerequisites
If you’re seeking out the role and not being your club’s local hero, your first step would be learning to umpire yourself.
If you already coach umpires (also known as developing, mentoring, or ‘running with’ umpires), you’re in an ideal spot to think about becoming an umpire convenor.
As a committee member in a sport involving children, you’ll need a volunteer position Working With Children Check (WWCC). The names for these also differ across states/countries. If you work with children and already have an employee check, you’re good to go.
Here is a web page that contains links to WWCC within the different states and territories in Australia.
How to get appointed
Executive committee members are appointed at a club’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). These meetings are open to all members and should be advertised on the club website or social media.
You need to nominate yourself and have any club member second your nomination*. The club would normally have a formal process for this, such as a paper or online form to fill out.
If other people have also been nominated for the same position, there will be a ballot vote at the meeting. If no one else was nominated, the position’s yours!.
*When someone "seconds a nomination", they are formally supporting the nominated person for that position, and they sign a document to make the nomination valid. It’s all very formal!
There you have it
Now that you know who can be an umpire convenor, what you need, and how the position is appointed–you’re ready to go for the role yourself.
To make things even easier, I’ve create a four-step PDF resource to help you with the first part of becoming a club umpire convenor. Get it sent to your email below!
