1. How long have you umpired for?

I couldn’t remember exactly, but approximately 7 or 8 years.
 

2. What made you take up umpiring?

When I was in secondary school playing netball in Inter-school netball league back then, each participating team was responsible for providing an umpire for the game they played. Together with a few teammates, we sat for the umpiring theory exam and started picking up the practical umpiring duties. At first, it was a bit ‘responsibility’ driven, but as time passed, there’re 3 major reasons that kept myself in umpiring. 1) Because I love netball, and we can’t play a fair game without a good umpire, somebody needs to take up the role and I decided to be a good umpire so that players can enjoy a fair game under my umpiring. 2) Because I enjoy challenges, the skill that is required from an umpire, and the challenge that an umpire has to face is very different from being a player. I want to challenge myself in not only the playing field, but also the umpiring field in netball. 3) I strongly believe that the better umpire I am, the better player I can be as my understanding of rules and the ability to read play improve.

3. What's the most difficult thing about umpiring?

I think the most difficult thing about umpiring is to make various decisions and actions within second. And the decisions will have impact on the whole game and all the players. For example, you need to decide where to position yourself so that you can best witness the ongoing movement and happening of the players and the ball; once you see something happen, you need to make judgment on it and decide if you’re going to call on it; once you decide that something did happen, you need to decide if you’re going to blow the whistle and stop the play or just give ‘Advantage’ call to allow the play to flow etc. All these actions and decisions are done continuously throughout the 1 hour game. And very often, things don’t happen one after another, different infringements can occur at several spots simultaneously. Once a decision or an action is delayed, you might not be able to give the best call. The demand for high concentration is as exhausting as being a player on court if not more.

4. What do you see as the most important attributes to a good umpire?

Consistency. I don’t believe that there’s a ‘perfect’ umpire who makes no mistakes, or make calls that everyone agree. However, as long as the umpire is consistent throughout the game, players and coaches can make adjustments themselves during the game accordingly. And that’s also being fair to both teams.

 
5. What's your goal in India?

Be the best I can be at every game that I umpire and learn the most from the valuable experiences with no regret.

6. What's a good piece of advice for young aspiring umpires out there?

Practice often, make mistakes and learn from them. Ask questions. Knowledge and confidence will then grow. Don’t give up easily.

7.  Favourite motto?