An important message shared across the WAIBOP Zone is the power of collaboration and creating communities of support between our Centres. With so many small, volunteer-led centres, it can be challenging to provide development opportunities and sustainable programmes that truly help our communities thrive.

This season Mercury Bay Netball Centre (MBNC), located in beautiful Whitianga, set its sights on strengthening opportunities in the umpiring space. Like many small centres, they faced challenges such as a lack of umpire coaches and assessors, understanding the pathways for development, and finding ways to retain promising umpires.

With the support of the Zone, MBNC connected with Tauranga Netball Centre (TNC) to utilise the Junior Umpire Award — a tool that both recognises the effort young umpires put in and celebrates their growing skillset. TNC supported MBNC with implementation, and this season Mercury Baye proudly awarded three Junior Badges to Maddison Ellis, Natalie Ebbers and Lis Laginestra Souza, who were all recognised at the Centre's Finals Night.

Maddison shared her journey:
“I’ve played netball since Year 5 and always really enjoyed it. I started umpiring in Year 8 and immediately loved it. This season I decided to stop playing and just focus on my umpiring. Now that I have my junior badge, I want to really focus on developing and gaining further qualifications.”

Olivia, Mercury Bay’s Umpire Coordinator, has also been thrilled to support her umpiring group this season. Stepping up herself, she became an umpire coach and assessor and is eager to continue developing next season to grow the capability of umpiring in the Mercury Bay community.

This story is a true reflection of how collaboration between Centres creates opportunities, grows confidence, and builds pathways that benefit our whole Zone.

Article by: Aimee Te WHata, WBOP Zone Umpire Development Officer
Article added: November 2025