The USA Netball Association Executives has endorsed the nomination of Michelle        Phippard by the Umpires Committee, as the association's Director of Umpire. With this   selection, USANA has started a new approach to get their umpires certified.

For the criteria of the different levels of umpires please click on the respective level of umpiring that interests you below. If a person is interested in being a certified umpire, please check the level below and ensure that all criteria have been met and can be verified, if necessary, before applying to sit the examination.

USANA Coaching:

We are currently working on developing an extensive amount of coaching material. Those will be placed on the website very soon.

Development:

USANA is committed to the continued development of netball throughout the United States.  We are currently scheduling development seminars throughout the country. Please feel free to contact the National Development Officer via email at       Development@usanetball.com for assistance with development in you area.

There are quite a few resources posted below to aid in development.

Specifications for Netball Facilities

INDOOR NETBALL FACILITY REQUIREMENTS

NETBALL COURT DIMENSIONS

GOALPOSTS

Creating an Association

Introduction

These pages are designed to help you develop your own Association. You will find      information here about  Committees, Meetings, Constitutions etc, and resources and  links to many documents and sites you can use to get started.

In this section you will find a Flowchart, and information on Planning and your             Initial Public Meeting.

Flowchart

To create an Association you may need to do the following;

• Work out the initial interest and the reason you are creating the Association
• Collect and review community information (councils, parks etc)
• Get key community input (other parents, players etc)
• Is the organization viable? - if not, don't continue, if it is, continue
• Hold a public meeting
• Raise a motion to establish the Association - if it is passed continue, if not don't
• Establish an interim committee
• Hold an inaugural meeting
• Establish the organization

Planning

Although people may feel the establishment of a new Association is required, or have a strong personal interest in developing the sport of netball, this is not enough to        accurately gauge the extent of potential demand for the Association or its likelihood  of survival.

Planning is the first essential element in ensuring a Netball Association enjoys            continuing success. Therefore the process needs to be approached as if you were seeking to create a small business in the area.

A detailed planning process helps the Association to see where it is going and how it is going to get there.  The way in which the Association members and committee go through the planning process and the issues that arise in that process are more important than simply being able to hold up a few typewritten pages. However, planning usually takes place in an environment of limited knowledge, in which facts and values are debatable. It is important to have factual data against which other types of information (e.g. assumptions, opinions, input from the community) can be evaluated. The information will also be invaluable when developing the Association’s plan and seeking funding assistance.

Some questions that need to be answered during the planning process are:

• What are the netball activity patterns and interests of the local community? 
• What facilities currently exist?
• What is the demographic profile of the community (e.g. age, sex, occupation, income)?
• Is the demographic profile expected to change over time?
• What is the current population and expected growth rate?
• What future plans does the local council have for the area?

The next step is to complete that checklist:

• Does netball already exist in that area?
• Is it active?
• Does it cater for its members?
• Are there already netball courts in the area? If so is there sufficient demand to sustain another netball Association?
• What is the potential for funding/sponsorship in the area?
• Will the new netball Association be able to share existing facilities/equipment or will they need to purchase their own? At what cost?
• Is storage available at the facility? If so, will this need to be shared?
• Where will funds come from?
• Will there be enough volunteers to help with establishing the new Association?

If it appears that there is sufficient demand as well as the necessary resources within the community, then the establishment process can proceed to the next stage. This involves holding a public meeting, forming an interim committee and conducting the inaugural general meeting.

Initial Public Meeting

A public meeting maybe beneficial when starting up a Association because it provides the catalyst for initiating marketing of a new organization and it also gives the public the possibility to ask questions pertaining to the new Association. Therefore the meeting should be offered to all of those who are interested in being part of the new netball Association, whether as players or as officials, such as committee members, fundraisers and coaches. The meeting needs to be widely advertised in a number of different ways using a variety of sources (local paper, radio, TV, Internet, community centers, schools etc). Some people (e.g. sport association and local government representatives, politicians, high profile guest speakers) may be personally invited to attend.

The first meeting needs to be well structured to ensure that the outcome is achieved (determining  whether  a new netball Association is sustainable). The following is a    suggested meeting process:

• Welcome and explain briefly the reason for the meeting
• Record names, email addresses, home addresses and telephone numbers of those present and any special interest or skills of the people attending and those who may have been unable to attend
• Summarize the key findings and issues arising from the research and initial community contact phase
• Guest speakers
• General discussion and opportunity for questions (make sure that a temporary    secretary takes notes)
• Re-evaluate whether to form the netball Association
• Vote on whether to form the netball Association
• Elect an interim committee (chairperson, secretary, treasurer) to coordinate further development of the Association structure
• Determine a timeline for the establishment process (e.g. Bylaws, general meeting).