Netball New Zealand confirmed today seven New Zealand Bench Officials have been offered Technical official roles at the Netball during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India.
Since 2000 Netball New Zealand has invested in the development of a national programme for the recognition of Bench Officials. Bench Officials are responsible for the timing and scoring of the game.
Netball New Zealand Operations Director Kate Agnew says Netball New Zealand is leading the way in developing world class players, coaches, umpires and bench officials.
"The area of technical officiating is now becoming a viable pathway to international representation for an increasing number of the netball community," she said.
The appointment of this group of Bench Officials follows the success of the 2007 World Netball Championships in Auckland, where the performance and standard of New Zealand match officials was widely praised and internationally recognised. Since 2007, Netball New Zealand's Bench Officiating processes have been acknowledged as the most comprehensive and advanced in world netball, leading to IFNA's approval for their use at this year's World Youth Championships. They will also be adopted for the 2011 World Netball Championships in Singapore.
The provision and capture of statistics is another area of the game in which Netball New Zealand has led the way, and three of these officials will be responsible for statistics at the Commonwealth Games. Sam Kerins, who will be one of the youngest ever Commonwealth Games officials, will have responsibility for the compilation and distribution of statistics to teams, media and broadcast. He will be assisted by Raylene Leith-Forbes and Vicki Reid.
The success and reach of the NNZ Bench Officials programme can be seen in the nationwide nature of these appointments.
The seven NNZ Bench Officials appointed to the 2010 Commonwealth Games are:
- Beryl Harvey - Eastern
- Sam Kerins - Eastern
- Julie Shaw - Eastern
- Bernice Robertson - Wellington
- Raylene Leith-Forbes - Southland
- Vicki Reid - Tasman
- Edna Brown - Waikato
These are the first New Zealand bench officials formally appointed to the Commonwealth Games by IFNA.