Emma, who started off as a player, discovered her love for umpiring four years ago. She quickly advanced through the Green Shirt program, Southern Districts Netball Association and now to the Gold Industry Group WA Netball League.
“I was a player and I wasn’t really enjoying that. I switched into the Green Shirt program for umpiring and really loved that,” she said.
“I developed through the association quickly and found my passion for umpiring. I wasn’t super confident when I was younger, so I found having the whistle gave me that confidence.”
Emma’s quick development came with the opportunity to fly to School Sport Australia Nationals twice, an incredible opportunity.
“I went away for School Sport Australia Nationals, that was really cool since it wasn’t just netball. You met a whole bunch of different students from all different states and schools,” she said.
“The first year I umpired the six places versus seventh place final so that was a cool experience. Last year the boys were going for the 15/U division for the first time, and I did the first versus second place final and that was awesome.”
These developmental opportunities come with added fees, something that her Netball WA Scholarship helped her cover.
“I got emailed about the scholarship and it was just after I had been away,” she said
“Often as an umpire you pay a lot of money to go away, so it was a great opportunity to get some money back from that experience.
“Obviously for things like WANL there’s also fees, the scholarship will help me get through the next couple of years of umpiring.”
Her scholarship made maintaining her passion much easier, especially when she’s on nursing placements that come with long hours on top of studying, her part time job, and umpiring.
Her scholarship made maintaining her passion much easier, especially when she’s on nursing placements that come with long hours on top of studying, her part time job, and umpiring.
“My Netball WA Scholarship helped me keep my netball passion alive, the contribution really helps when balancing uni, work and placement,” Emma said
“There’s this environment when you get on court where everyone pays attention to you, it’s just this spotlight moment that makes you feel like you belong.
“100 per cent go for the scholarship, when opportunities come up like this it’s so important to take them with both hands.”
Interested in applying for a Netball WA Scholarship? Details can be found here.
