SNZ U-I-C

Wayne Saunders UIC News

UIC News  - Issue No3 2008 

It was announced at the SNZ AGM on Saturday that Wiremu Tamaki is this year’s Umpire of the Year and SNZ’s Softballer of the Year. Please join me in congratulating Wiremu.

In this issue I hope to catch up the back load of field achievements not reported to you since the end of the season plus what lies ahead as the summer fast approaches.

All women crews were used for possibly the first time at the Men’s Open. Well done Tara Harris and Nicky Ogier for walking the talk. In April the ISF Men’s World Championship Qualifier was held at North Harbour. Attending were ISF Certified International umpires Darren Sibraa, Scott Rindfleish, Damien McCauley and Leigh Evans from Australia plus our own Lindsay Edwards, Lance Type, Mark McFarlane and Wiremu Tamaki. All eight umpires worked the Grand Final with Wiremu doing the plate.

Newly promoted Level 5 umpires John Hickman and Rikki Thompson tasted their first International assignment in accompanying the Raw Sox to Australia. Further afield attending the ISF Junior Men’s in Canada were Glen Nalepa and Lance Brown.  Both Lance (1^st) and Glen (3^rd) worked the Grand Final.

Mark McFarlane our ISC exchange umpire was accompanied by partner Nicky Ogier on his visit to the USA. Mark and Nicky both worked a number of tournaments leading up to the ISC World Tournament. Due to late umpire withdrawals Nicky was added to the ISC II Tournament of Champions. It is understood that Nicky’s appointment is the first for any women umpire to officiate at this level of ISC Fastpitch softball. Nicky worked 1^st on the championship game, while down the road at the main show, Mark’s assignments saw him also work 1^st on the championship game of the World Tournament.

Wiremu Tamaki’s build –up on the way to Beijing saw him attending an International Tournament in Australia plus the 2008 Canada Cup. I am sure we are all aware by now of Wiremu’s appointment to the plate of the Olympic Gold Medal game. Let all hope that Softball gets reinstated to the Olympics in 2016 so many more of our umpires can live the dream. Well done everyone.

The NUS is aware that each umpire has paid for or significantly contributed to the cost of these appointments. The NUS hope with the help of SNZ to review what more can be done to support umpires undertaking international appointments.

It has stopped raining so we can now look forward to the new season. Preseason clinics in all regions are organized for September and dates are posted on the website. Prepare to be successful by attending a clinic. National Tournament application forms have now been sent to each Local umpires association. You can expect accounts from SNZ in the next few weeks for your Annual Umpire Registration fees. All enquires about your account will be through Mark McFarlane who in turn will liaise with SNZ. The Australian combined men’s and women’s championship next February will be the tournament our Trans Tasman exchange umpire will be attending. Recommendations will be called from the NUS this month with an early October announcement expected. Other International applications are expected to be called for by SNZ later in September/October and these will continue to be posted on the website as soon as details have been received.

At the National Umpiring Staff meeting we had a session with the National coaching Staff. In the wider interest of the game the following resolution was adopted. - “That following an initial warning to a pitcher. Any discussion on subsequent infringement of the pitching rule with a pitcher shall involve the head coach. This is recommended to apply for all U19 and under grades”. 

ISF – Certified Bats (2006-2009 Rulebook Reference Rule 3 Sec 1m)

 

August 31, 2008 marked the end of the period during which bats that complied with the previous ISF bat performance standard (1.20 BPF) shall be permitted to be used in ISF play. This pertains to bats allowed for use in ISF competitions or ISF-sanctioned tournaments, such as World Championships, Olympic Qualifiers, the Olympics, and others. Adopted at the 2005 Congress was the ASTM high-speed batted ball test (100mph). The new approved bats will be identified with ISF 100MPH BBS labelling. A list of currently approved bats (whether from the old 1.20 BPF standard or the current ASTM high-speed batted ball test standard) may be viewed at http://www.internationalsoftball.com/english/rules_standards/certified_bats.asp

 

The Board of SNZ will issue an Advice Notice later this month stating when and how this rule amendment will be managed for domestic softball in New Zealand. The current rulebook will not be replaced until following the 2009 Congress. SNZ normally adopts the ISF rule changes made at Congress and issues a new rulebook taking affect the following domestic season. At the request of the National Coaches, ISF rule changes have been applied earlier at National Tournaments prior to players travelling to an ISF World Championship.

Rules Refresher/Examination is schedule for Monday 21 October. Candidates applying for NZ badge examination are required to complete this examination and obtain at least the 70% before being eligible to be field examined this season. The NUS has set a goal to have as many Level 1 umpires as possible sit this paper. Each Association is requested to send by an email address for each Level 1umpire to Nicky Ogier no later than the first week in October. Make the NUS goal your Association’s goal. 

 Oceania Update

Executive Reports from the Umpires Clinics held in Samoa and Papau New Guinea have now been distributed and are available at /content/thegame/snzumpires/landing.aspx Many thanks to facilitators Nicky Ogier (NZL) for the Samoan clinic and Andrew and Scott Rindfleish (Aus) for the Papua New Guinea clinic. Both Federations have adopted the recommended Oceania grading system and each appointed an Umpire-in-Chief. The new UIC for Samoa is Seiuli Masa Levale. Seiuli will be assisted by Upu Young Yen. The new UIC for PNG is Peter Chalapan. Congratulation to both Federations for formalising their umpiring programmes. SA and SNZ have extended an invitation to PNG and Samoa to send umpires to their National Tournaments.

ISF Director of Umpiring Bob Stanton has recently issued Technical Bulletins covering rulings and interpretations to the current 2006-2009 ISF Rule Book. This information has been sent by ISF to each National Federation and can be viewed at http://www.internationalsoftball.com/english/umpiring/articles.asp

 

We hope you enjoy visiting our website as it continues to go through change and grow. If you have a question we hope you can find most answers there. Visit the website first before you contact your Local Chief Umpire or Regional Director of Umpiring to seek assistance.

In finishing I would like to share with you some quotes from presenters at SNZ’s Annual Conference

n           Junior games are often ruined by whistle happy and inappropriate officials.

n           Have a plan and commit to it. We must learn from both success and failure.

n           Most Regional Sports Trusts call for nominations for officials of the month and official of the year.

n           The five P’s - Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance

 

For the National Staff
Wayne Saunders
Umpire-in-Chief

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