Three umpires from across South Australian have been recognized for their contributions to their communities, chosen as finalists for the 2022 My Money House Umpire of the Year Award (Community).
Ashlee Caldwell from Garville Netball Club, Rebecca Scanlon from the Mid South East Netball Association and Amy Hateley from the Millicent Netball Club are the three finalists for the Award, which will be presented at the Netball SA Awards Gala next month.
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Caldwell is the Umpires Director at Garville, leading a young team of mentors to develop the club’s emerging umpires from Coloured Shirt Program to badging qualifications to mentoring.
She developed a three-tiered training approach to umpire pathways within the club and developed a mentoring program for badged umpires to be skilled to mentor other emerging umpires.
Over the years, she has established great rapport with club coaches to ensure they are aware of umpiring competencies to ensure all umpires are treated with respect and support.
Caldwell herself holds a B grade national badge and is a member of the Premier League Umpiring Squad, continuously striving to be a better umpire and role model to team white.
The Garville Netball Club expressed how proud they were of the umpiring program that Caldwell has developed over the years, which has gone from strength to strength with a large number of umpires becoming badged at both C grade and B grade levels.
Rebecca Scanlon has been nominated for going above and beyond to ensure the future development of umpires at the Mid South East Netball Association.
She has also assisted the Western Border Netball Association with badging and umpire development when her commitments to MSENA allowed.
In 2022, she took on the role of Association Secretary and despite the increase to her workload, she still made time to umpire at her home club of Tantanoola and other clubs in the Association.
She has been instrumental in the development of junior and aspiring senior umpires by running clinics and liaising with Netball SA to run development courses with A badged umpires.
After first achieving her C badge in 1999, Scanlon worked hard to obtain her B Badge in 2016 and has continued to develop her credentials ever since.
She is regular umpire at the Country Championships and is the MSENA Umpire Coordinator, organising umpires for the seven games per day of finals held over four weeks.
Amy Hateley from the Western Border Netball Association has been umpiring for over 15 years and is an extremely passionate umpire for her club, the association and the South East Academy.
She umpires at club level as well as attending the SA Country Championship each year and the Academy Games.
Hateley runs umpire development sessions for junior and senior players each season, umpires each week, and supports with umpiring for the MSENA.
Currently a C Grade Badge, she is working towards obtaining her B Grade badge in 2023. She was nominated for her hard-working nature, ability to listen to feedback and willingness to become the best umpire she can be.
