I started playing table tennis quite late at around 17 years old and realised after a couple of years that I was never going to attain County standard. I currently play in two Leagues and would classify myself as a reasonable division 1 player. This season 2008/9, I am playing in the Premier division in Watford and division one in St. Albans.
I had always been interested in watching top class table tennis and when I started driving in 1982 I took the opportunity to travel to as many international matches as I could as well as driving each year to the Sussex Open to spectate.
In 1985 I took the County umpire paper as I still wanted to watch top players in action and be involved in the sport as well. I remember umpiring a Veterans County match soon after and the match involved four expedites and lasted over 6 hours, of which I umpired 9 of the 10 sets!
Whilst I was at the Sussex Open around 1989 George Tyler, an experienced umpire, spotted me in the crowd and approached me and suggested that as I came every year, why didn't I come as an umpire and receive free accommodation and food! The following year, I went to the Sussex Open as an umpire and I was invited to several other events and within a few years I was umpiring around 25 weekends a year in addition to my County matches.
In 1991 I took and passed the National Umpires paper and in 1994 the International paper just before umpiring at the European Championships in Birmingham. Sine then I have umpired at several English Opens, as well as the Commonwealth Games in 2002, World Championships in 1997 and 2007, the Paralympics in 1996 and the Olympics in 2000, as well as many international tournaments abroad.
My main highlights were umpiring the World Mens Doubles final in 1997 and the Olympic Womens Singles final in 2000.
In general the level of sportsmanship and behaviour in table tennis is very high, especially with the professional players. However, there are always a few exceptions who like to test an umpire's ability to remain in control. I consider Jorgen Persson of Sweden and Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus to be true ambassadors for the sport and always show high levels of sportsmanship. I only wish some footballers would show the same level of sportsmanship and professionalism.
My only slight irritation about umpiring is that it is not taken seriously enough and players don't appreciate the difficulties and the dedication it takes to be a good umpire. I sometimes feel that officials see umpiring as a cost to a tournament rather than a necessity. Some players only see you as a "scorer" and argue with you if you try to apply the rules.
Many people will not realise that if you wish to represent the ETTA at tournaments abroad, the cost of flights is borne by the umpire. This has changed a little over the years with a small contribution made by the ETTA and things will hopefully improve in the next couple of years.
There is a real shortage of umpires at the moment and Management and National Council are trying to address this problem. Hopefully, there will be more money available for travelling abroad and better working conditions at tournaments. Often an umpire at a tournament works for 12 hours with only a short break for lunch, The National Umpires and Referees Committee (NURC) are available to run Umpiring and Refereeing Seminars to try and recruit new umpires. At a recent seminar at Cippenham, seventeen new County umpires were recruited and several other seminars are planned.
I think players' perception of umpiring is something that they may consider when they have finished playing. However, the vast majority of umpires do both, some to a high level. In July there was an umpires' tournament in Grimsby where we played hard during the day and enjoyed a pleasant social evening together.
I consider umpiring to be very rewarding and challenging. An umpire needs to be in control of the match and apply the Rules without appearing officious. It requires a high level of concentration which can actually improve your playing ability by being able to study the techniques and tactics of a top player up close.
... Just lately I have recently returned from the German ITTF Pro Tour Open and will be umpiring at the Royal Albert Hall and the Commonwealth table tennis championships in Glasgow in May 2009. Hopefully, I will also be selected for the English Open in October 2009, which is also on the ITTF Pro Tour.
If you would like more information on Umpiring or would like to follow in David's footsteps then get in touch with David via email on : dedwards@tabletennis.fsnet.co.uk
Recent Comments