The Badminton Australia Technical Official Committee recently accredited five of its Umpires with National Certification after successfully passing an assessment at the 2023 YONEX Ede Clendinnen Shield and National Championships in Bendigo.
Chaithanya Madhyastha (VIC), Sachin Vishwanath (WA), Casim Casim (TAS), Paul Garvey (WA) and JD Aldo Auleebux (VIC) are now classified as National Certificated Umpires.
BATOC Committee Chair Sandra David was pleased to see high levels of dedication and professionalism from all the umpires who were under assessment.
“It’s an expectation that our Certified Umpires are strong Umpires and have comprehensive knowledge of badminton rules and regulations and how to apply them in pressure situations,” she said.
“Their experience allows them to control higher level matches in a professional manner.
“As part of the recent assessment, they were also required to undertake a written assessment that involved answering various scenario-based questions to test their knowledge and to see how they would approach unique challenges that can arise on the badminton court.”
The five recently accredited Umpires are now on the pathway to become BWF Umpires and they can apply to be assessed at an Oceania-level event after two years at their new current level.
David said the opportunities for umpires to increase their skills had been increasing at a rapid pace in recent years.
“Some of these Umpires have been accepted into an Oceania Pathways Program, where Badminton Oceania has secured BWF funding to help progress them to higher levels,” she said.
“They will be invited to umpire at international level to continue building their skills.
“It’s also very pleasing to see so many 20-to-30-year-old umpires in the system.
“Many players, who may not make it to the world circuit as a player see it as an avenue to remain involved with badminton while travelling the world.”
For anyone interested in becoming an Umpire please email batoc@badminton.org.au.