OFFICIATING PROGRAMME
Badminton
officials are an integral part of the sport, providing players and coaches with
unbiased decisions guaranteeing fair play for all players. Benefits of being a badminton official include
officiating at major provincial, national and international competitions,
gaining a better understanding of the Laws of Badminton, earning respect from
players, coaches and colleagues, and continuing life-long involvement in
badminton. The NATIONAL OFFICIALS’
CERTIFICATION PROGRAMME (NOCP) was
developed in association with Badminton Canada to assist in the development of
knowledgeable experienced badminton officials to serve at tournaments,
from district to international levels.
The OBA encourages members of the badminton community to help with all
aspects of competitions – time keeping, scorekeeping, umpiring, refereeing,
tournament directors and draw desk personnel.
NOCP Programme
There are three
levels of certification in the NOCP Programme:
Regional, Provincial and National.
Each level of certification consists of three components: Technical, Experience and
Certification. The national level is
overseen by Badminton
Technical Courses are clinics designed to
introduce and consolidate knowledge of badminton rules, regulations and scoring
procedures through review and on-court practical application. Officials who have officiating credentials
from other countries may apply to the OBA for equivalency.
Experience following successful completion of the technical
component is gained by umpiring at Ontario sanctioned tournaments. Officials work under the guidance of OBA and
National levels referees and officials.
Certification - Regional candidates may
become fully certified by umpiring/service judging twenty-five different
matches at a minimum of three different district B, C, D level or provincial C,
D championships. Provincial candidates
may become successfully certified by umpiring/service judging forty matches,
from quarterfinals onwards, at provincial A, B level tournaments and Provincial
Championships. Officials who have not
worked for a while, and would like to become involved with Ontario Badminton
Association events, are invited to contact the OBA Office. Certification following completion of the
technical course and the experience requirement is through an on-court evaluation
by an OBA NOCP Course Conductor, qualified at one level above the examination
level.
Scheduling: At the start of the season, information is sent out to Ontario
officials listing all Ontario events, inviting referees and umpires to indicate
those events for which they are available.
OBA Upgrade
Clinics: These are offered each Fall in conjunction
with a major Ontario tournament.
Officials who wish to take the next level of technical clinic, be tested
for certification, gain experience at the next level under a National level
Course Conductor, or are coming back into officiating after a time away, are
invited to attend. The OBA may invite
officials, or the official may contact the OBA requesting the Upgrade. Under the Course Conductor, officials work
on the next level, or experience, and officiate at the tournament under the
Tournament Referee.
Regional NOCP
Technical Clinics: Regional Clinics are usually
organized by Districts. A package for
the Instructor, packages for the participants including pre-course work, the
OBA Officiating Handbook (rules) and examples of score sheets are sent to the
Districts by the OBA. Experience record
booklets are provided at the end of the clinic. There is a charge per participant for the packages, the District
then adds the cost of the instructor’s honorarium, expenses, venue rental,
etc., to set the cost of the clinic per participant.
Provincial NOCP
Technical Clinics: Provincial Clinics are
organized by the OBA and are typically one-on-one courses, held in conjunction
with an OBA tournament. Information is
available from the OBA office.
REFEREES: From
time to time, technical clinics are held for officials who wish to become
referees at provincial/district events.
Following the technical clinic, experience is gained by working as an
assistant referee under a senior OBA referee.
Membership:
Membership is renewed annually for a nominal fee. (Player membership is required if competing
at sanctioned tournaments).
The OBA works with technical officials (umpires and
referees) to help them move to the next level of certification. Contact the OBA office for more information.
Officials who have not worked for a while and would like to
become involved with Ontario events, are invited to contact the OBA office at info@ontariobadminton.on.ca
Tournament Directors
Tournament Directors are an important part of the OBA programme. Starting as volunteers at district/regional level, tournament directors
become experienced and may move on to running higher level events. The OBA recommends that all tournament
directors take a regional officiating clinic to update their knowledge of the
rules. If a referee is at the event,
then the tournament director works closely under the referee to make the
tournament run smoothly.
Tournament Volunteers
The OBA relies on tournament volunteers to help an event run
smoothly. Volunteers are needed to run
draw desks, for time keeping, and, at some events, scorekeeping. Many badminton enthusiasts start as
volunteers and move on to become technical officials.
Clinics
All clinics are advertised on the website and may also be advertised in
Ontario Badminton Today, the OBA quarterly newsletter. Visit www.ontariobadminton.on.ca or
contact info@ontariobadminton.on.ca
for more information.
(Source:
Last updated
February 28, 2009