About the BUAofE

The Association operates a mentoring scheme whereby all new members have access to a more experienced umpire for advice and guidance – that will prove invaluable in the early days. As you become more confident and experienced in your umpiring, you will have an opportunity to progress through the 5 grades of the BUAofE, 2 at European level and 2 International grades. We have an ongoing assessment and development programme that automatically includes all members.

Umpires may also gain Badminton Europe and Badminton World Federation qualifications enabling them to work across the world at Olympic Games etc.

It is a matter of great pride that English umpiring is currently well represented in the highest category of world umpiring.

From ‘Officiating in Sport’, The Sports Council.

“British match officials are a national resource to be proud of and to nurture. They are often unsung heroes and heroines who provide the backbone of neutrality and fair play at every level of sport.

At the highest level their reputation and visible presence abroad is proportionally much higher than that from many other countries. In the final rounds of international competition Britain’s officials are often still involved long after many of its teams have gone home.”

As part of the run up to the 2012 Olympic games the London Development Agency (LDA) have made some funding available to enable Technical Officials to gain appropriate training and experience so that they can officiate at the games. Following consultation with LDA and Badminton England it was agreed the Umpires Association and the Line Judges Association would undertake the necessary activities to make this funding available to its potential members. Currently this is limited to people living in London but there are another 12 UK Development Agencies watching closely who may also provide funding for non-Londoners in the future.

In order to meet the funding requirements, our Association was required to map and then align ourselves to the UK National Occupational Standards. These standards describe the skills, knowledge and understanding needed to undertake a particular task or job to a nationally recognised level of competence, in this case umpiring. We mapped Regional Assessment to Level 2 and National Assessment to Level 3 of the standards.

The mapping was undertaken by members of the National Assessor (NA) Group, as a result we have improved the way in which we conduct both Regional and National Assessments.

If you have any queries about National Occupational Standards and how the Umpire Association is using them, please don’t hesitate to contact the NA Group Secretary, Val Andrews.