Umpiring is Your Sport! 

The game of Netball has become increasingly quicker so there is a greater importance on the requirement that umpires are prepared well in regard to fitness.  As with all other sports and netball players, this is not something that you use to get fit – you need to be doing training and fitness programmes prior to umpiring.  This is especially  important when you are going to be attending tournaments.  The intensity of a week-long tournament requires a high standard of fitness to enable you to do your best and the best for the teams and to avoid injury.  

Umpires at the Tauranga Netball Centre are encouraged to have a reasonable level of fitness to be able to umpire the games they are controlling.  Fitness is important for umpires because they need to be able to move around the court and keep up with the game to be able to see the players with and around the ball, so they can make clear decisions on what is happening on the court.

Umpires who hold a New Zealand Umpire Award have earned the right to wear the Netball New Zealand logo and are representing Netball New Zealand. Representing a national organisation comes with a responsibility to uphold the high standards of the award. As such, Netball New Zealand have minimum fitness standards for the various levels of netball.

We hold fitness tests at least three times during the season for any umpire who wishes to attend, and wants to participate to test their own level of fitness. and in particular for Umpires who hold their NZ C,B,A Awards( this is a requirement ) and also NZ Zone Award and higher who wish to continue on the NNZ NZ Umpire Pathway Umpires and must have good physical fitness to perform their umpiring duties! 

For our Umpires' who umpire the Premier Open Competition on Thursday nights it is also a requirement for you to attend the 1st Yoyo testing for the season!

All Umpires who umpire at TNC are welcome to attend Yoyo testing.

To be able to effectively run the Yoyo see our information to the right - effective Yoyo testing - to find some hint on how to best run the Yoyo.

Yoyo Testing will be next run on:

Thursday 6th and 13th March 2025, 5.30pm, at Mercury Bay Park Arena

Register to attend the Yoyo - click the button above to register, or email Maree Body our Umpire Lead umpirelead@tauranganetball.co.nz if you have any queries.

Our full list of 2025 Yoyo testing dates can be downloaded from this page (on right-hand side of this page). 

All NZ umpires wishing to be appointed to NNZ tournaments must be tested. NZ umpires who need to reassess must do a YoYo test. Zone umpires who wish to be considered for a NZ Badge must have been tested.

Please take advantage of these opportunities as they are advertised. If you are part of the Tauranga Netball Umpires Group Deveopment Pathway Membership there is no charge to attend the YoYo testing, non members will be charged $10.

Testing must be completed within two weeks of these dates and submitted to the WAIBOP Zone before these dates:

• 15th March
• 1st June
• 1st August (for umpires wishing to attend NZ Open Champs)
• 1st September

the following are the levels that umpires need to meet as a minimum standard:

All umpires wishing to be appointed to NNZ events must provide current Yo-Yo Test results as per the table above. Current means within two weeks of the fitness testing deadline.