Michelle traveled to Launceston, for the round 10 action of the State League to work with eight selected B and A-Badged umpires, who umpired the 19U and Open Cavaliers verse Kingston and Northern Hawks verse Kingston matches. The purpose of trip, initiated by Netball Australia, was to work with state-based umpires and umpire coaches at the top level to ensure that both umpiring techniques and coaching methods are aligned with the national approach and philosophy.
“It is always lovely coming to Tassie and the people are very welcoming” she said.
“The matches were entertaining to watch and the competently umpired.”
“One of the things that was noticeable in all games was the rapport between the players and umpires, which led to good communication and control” noted Phippard.
Michelle is regarded as one of Australia’s greats to pick up a whistle. With an IUA accreditation, a qualified lawyer and a mum of three, she is always one step ahead of the game in all aspects of life.
She first picked up a whistle as a junior player to support her club on a Saturday afternoon and has been fortunate enough to umpire at the highest level, both in Australia and internationally for nearly 20 years now. Michelle recently umpired her 100th international game on home soil during the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April.
‘While involvement in national league finals and events like Commonwealth Games and World Cups are career highlights, I am also proud to be part of such a strong tradition of elite umpiring in Australia, and to be able to contribute to the development of the next generation of high performance umpires in my role as Emerging Talent Head Coach is special.” she humbly answered when asked what her proudest moments and achievements were.
To those aspiring umpires, she said; use every opportunity to enhance your knowledge of the game – not just the rules, but the skills of the players, strategies and patterns of play used by teams.
“Remember that no one ever has the perfect game – mistakes are part of learning and getting better for players, coaches and umpires alike.”
“Practice as much as possible and be honest about your performance – acknowledge where you did a good job, as well as where you can improve” she said.
Netball Tasmania and the umpires involved were very grateful for the support and advice from Michelle on the weekend. You can see Michelle in action during the Suncorp Super Netball matches on Nine, NineNow and Telstra Tv
