FISA Development Camps Training Umpires

Since 1996, the number of FISA member federations has grown from 98 to 155.  While this growth is great for the sport, it has created challenges too.  How do you bring rowing to area without a strong history of rowing? The FISA Development Team has worked hard to create training camps and educational activities to teach athletes how to row and train coaches to develop athletes. These projects have been supported through the Olympic Solidarity grants arranged through the national federations.  FISA’s Youth and Masters Commissions have also supported the activities through funds raised at the FISA Masters Regattas.

But what happens when you train the coaches and develop athletes but there is no local infrastructure that allows them to race or have competition.  How do you keep the athletes motivated and improving if they cannot practice the skills in race situations?  To do this there needs to be umpires and officials to run regattas.  The next question becomes how do you train Umpires to officiate when there are no other Umpires to do the training or regattas for the candidates to see or understand even what jobs an umpire needs to perform?   Which came first, the chicken or the egg, the umpire or the regatta?

FISA is running development camps . . . camps that train athletes to race . . . what happens if in addition to training the athletes and coaches, people interested in learning to become umpires are invited and receive training to become officials.  The athletes can practice racing as the umpire candidates are trained to run the races.  This idea was hatched at a meeting between the FISA Development Group and the Umpiring Commission.  Sheila Stephens, Daniela Gomes and Osvaldo Borchi successfully worked with the Olympic Solidarity to get the Umpire Training included in the approved development camp projects. 

As part of a FISA Development camp in Ecuador this past February, Sergio Ramirez (FISA, South American Confederation and Argentinian Umpire), conducted training classes for Ecuadorian’s interested in becoming rowing officials.  The training involved classroom presentations followed by on the water application of what had been learned to build the skills.  The candidates conducted races for the athletes who were learning to row.  At the end of the camp the candidates took an examination to become Ecuadorian National Umpires.  11 people passed the examination to become Ecuador’s first national Umpires. 

The Ecuador umpiring course was the fourth time that Osvaldo Borchi and Sergio Ramirez have teamed up to provide Umpire training as part of FISA Development Camps.  The previous camps were held in El Salvador, Guatemala and Uruguay.  The next one will take place in Puerto Rico in May.  Work is being done to bring this concept to other areas.

The Umpiring Commission wants to recognize and thank FISA’s Development Team and Sergio Ramirez for recognizing the importance of training umpires and getting this project going.

We are always open to other ideas on how we can continue to develop our umpiring corps.  If you have ideas, please contact a member of the Umpiring Commission.