Umpire Coaches participate in end of year workshop

On Sunday 5th December, sixteen Umpire Coaches gathered at the AFL Offices in Sydney for an End of Season Workshop as part of the AFL Umpire Coach Professional Development Program (PDP). Coaches gathered from across NSW and the ACT.

As part of the day coaches facilitated the sessions including a review of the 2010 season. There were also sessions on group leadership as well as a session on planning better coaching sessions and implementing accreditation consistently across NSW/ACT.

One of the highlights of the day was a presentation from the AFL NSW/ACT Multicultural Department. The session looked into Cultural Diversity, and looked at ways that Umpiring can work with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities and engage them in the football community.

The Umpire Coach Professional Development Program (PDP) forms the basis of an umpire coaches accreditation. The program involves participation in teleconferences throughout the year with other umpire coaches from across Australia to share ideas and successes. The umpire coaches are now looking forward to their participation in the National Coaching Conference in Melbourne in January.