By TENAJH SWEETING

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) hosted a two-day umpire training course at the National Tennis Centre this past weekend.

The classes were held from May 26-27 with a morning and evening session. The course saw 20 participants register for the umpire training sessions which included 10 women.

BLTA’s focus behind the two-day training was to help with the development and training of officials at all levels as the demand and popularity of local tennis steadily grows.

Mickey Williams, officiating manager and host of the training, talked about the importance of the two-day course. “I think it’s a very necessary step in the development process, both for officials and for players, because as officials we have a responsibility to educate the players on the rules and procedures so this will serve two purposes,” Williams said.

He added that it will give people who want more knowledge of the rules a place to start and also serves as a stepping stone for those with a desire to start officiating.

Participants were taught the rules of tennis, code violations, time violations, medical timeouts, how to correct errors during matches, and were given the chance to score improv matches in efforts to give them a hands-on feel for the officiating side of tennis.

Trivea Culmer, one of the 10 women participants, talked about her reason for signing up for the training course.

“Two of my sons are presently playing tennis, as a parent, I thought it was imperative for me to learn more about the game because they would be participating in matches and tournaments,” she said.

Culmer believed that it was an opportunity to not only gain more knowledge but to give back to the BLTA because they offer a few free programmes to kids in the community. Overall, she acquired a wealth of knowledge over the two-day span, including expectations of the umpire and the technicalities of the game. She deemed the course as very beneficial.

Julian Robinson, a male participant, said he decided to sign up for the training course due to his love for tennis and to increase his knowledge about the sport he has played for a few years.

Additionally, he wanted to offer his service to local and international events. Robinson added that although he had a surface level knowledge about the game, the course was very beneficial as it allowed him to dig deeper and learn about the nuances of the sport for a better understanding.

With an influx of tennis events scheduled for the BLTA, including the sixth edition of the Bahamas Games scheduled for July 6-14, BLTA president Perry Newton expects to see the new officials at their upcoming events.

“The course has been good. It is very needed because part of the sport is officiating to ensure that the game is played within the rules so we are glad that we have so many persons that have taken advantage of this experience,” Newton said.

Additionally, he said the goal is for the trainees to follow in the path of Mickey Williams who officiated at an international level and for participants to gain experience in local and sporting arenas abroad.

The president was also very pleased with the amount of newcomers at the course and the women who signed up to make their presence felt in a male-dominated field.

“We have a lot of females. They are right now one of the rare assets that if you can add them to your organisation they add value [to it] because sports is primarily dominated by men so we are pleased to have 10 or 11 females taking part in the call,” he said.

Next up on the BLTA’s sporting calendar is the junior nationals to be held June 10-11 for the under-8 and under-10 divisions.