Bowlers’ do level one umpire course
You need 100 hours of umpiring to move up to a level two umpire.
Ten members of Springs Town Bowling Cub were doing their technical official (umpire) exam at the club on Saturday.
Izak Hattingh, club secretary, says there were two bowlers from Modderbee Bowling Club doing the course as well.
An umpire can progress from level one to level four by attending training courses designed to improve their knowledge of the rules and regulations of the sport of bowls.
Izak says bowlers are allowed to up-rate themselves by taking the level one umpire course or because they are no longer sure of the latest editions of the laws, can do so.
Once the umpire has reached level one they have to do at least 100 hours of umpiring to progress to the next level.
Between level two and three an umpire needs 300 hours of umpiring and has to be recommended by a club and the district.
Sam Herzfield, a level two member of the technical officials standing committee of the Ekrurhuleni Bowls district, says they assess the bowlers at the practical level one umpire course.
She adds the committee tries to have a class of about 10 or 12 people do a course which is run by the district bowls executive body to train bowlers as umpires.
Duties
It is an umpire’s task during competitive play to attend to the mechanics of the game.
One of the duties of an umpire is to advise the skips on the laws governing the game when the skips are not sure of what is required under certain circumstances.
An umpire has to check that the greens meet the required standard before the commencement of play.
This includes the width of the rinks, the two and 25m distance pegs, the availability of mats, jacks, the ditch indicators and the shot measuring equipment.
During the game the umpire may be called upon to measure any disputed shots or possible short distances between the jack or a bowl from the centre of the mat line.
The umpire may also be called upon to take specific legal decisions such as whether a jack or a bowl, are in play or not, or if the game is being played in accordance with the laws of the game.
At the completion of the game, the umpire will collect the cards, check that the cards are correct and hand it to the district secretary to determine who goes through to the next round.
