Milestone speaks to umpire's dedication

Otago Daily Times

2 days ago

A great night for Kristie Simpson is when nobody notices she is in the room.
That was a little hard late last month when the Eastern Southland umpire officiated her 150th national league netball game during the Southern Steel and Northern Mystics clash in Dunedin.
It was a fitting moment for Simpson who now holds the national record for umpiring the most national league games.
Asked how she felt about the milestone, Simpson joked "like I've been around for a wee while".
But she acknowledged it was a special achievement and her longevity spoke to her determination as an umpire at the top of her game for the past 15 years.
Simpson, who lives on a farm in Tokanui, grew up umpiring and officiated her first national game in 2010 during the transtasman ANZ Championship era.
There had been many highlights through the years, including the league's first "sudden-death" game, which presented new challenges for players and umpires, and shuffling her life through Covid lockdowns, when most of the games were played in Auckland while she was based in Southland and had a family to think about as well.
She also umpired the Steel's victory against the Mainland Tactix in Christchurch in 2017, days after Steel players were injured in the van crash.
"We spend a lot of time with the players, we see them week-in, week-out," Simpson said.
"Whilst we're trying to achieve different things, we've got a great respect for what they do, so that was definitely a game that stands out for a lot of emotions."
Simpson, who has also officiated at Netball World Cups and the Commonwealth Games, has grown as an umpire through the years and never stopped developing.
"I guess when you've been doing it for this long you get a picture memory bank of things that happen and how they go about happening.
"You have a good idea of the players and what they're trying to achieve . . . and how the defence is trying to stop them.
"You get a better feeling for that contest, contact and consistency across the court."
But there were always things that kept her on her toes, including the addition of the two-point shot to the competition this season.
The new rule turned the goal circle backwards — while shooters have traditionally tried to be under the post, they are now aiming to be in the two-point zone.
"From our perspective, we've got to look in different places. We've got to have different angles to the court and therefore the defence is trying to do that opposite thing to what they're normally doing.
"It has made it interesting, it's made it a new challenge, a new thing to think about and I think that's always good and exciting."
Her enjoyment for the game had never wavered and the often thankless task of umpiring had been her way of being involved in the sport.
"It's great to be a part of the game and this is the part that I can do well. That's the thing I like the most is being involved in the game.
"But the best games are always when they don't notice us.
"At the end of the day if you've got a game and you come off and someone's like 'oh did you umpire that game?', it's a big win."
Simpson, who is also a coach for the national watch list umpire squad, is part of a unique crew from the Eastern Southland centre, home to five international umpires in Colleen Bond, Alison Cormack, Bobbi Brown, Jono Bredin and Simpson.
"The joy of Eastern is we still have those umpires and those people in there helping," Simpson said.
"They're such a great support, they've got so much knowledge and that gives you a lot of confidence, especially when it's the young umpires coming through when you're starting.
"I feel very lucky and very privileged to have been able to come from there."
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