Five new umpires have been announced in a fourteen-strong cohort of Aspiring Female Umpire Programme for the 2024/25 season.
Stephanie Carr (Auckland), Regan Combe (Central Districts), Marie Fisher (Wellington), Michelle McKay (Central Districts) and Esther Steer (Central Districts) will join four returning umpires for the fourth edition of the programme.
One of the programme’s success stories, Alyson Shipley (Canterbury), will return to the programme as a mentor, having been on the programme since the 2021/22 season and progressing to domestic umpire appointments.
Shipley will combine with Kim Cotton, Christelle High, Tina Semmens and Sue Morris to form an experienced group of mentors, aiming to share their key lessons from officiating at the top level of cricket.
An exciting advancement to this season’s programme is an added element of connecting with female umpires at a grassroots level.
Programme members will collaborate with Major Associations to deliver upskilling opportunities to secondary schoolgirls & female club players.
These sessions will be delivered throughout association programmes & initiatives as an opportunity for young wāhine to rub shoulders with some of the best female umpires in New Zealand.
October’s ‘In-person Residential’ will for the first time combine with the Pathway to Performance programme – offering coaches and umpires an exciting opportunity to build relationships and share learnings across their roles.
NZC Community Umpire Manager, Eugene Sanders, portrayed his excitement about the upcoming season.
“We are very excited to welcome five new umpires to the programme this season,” said Sanders.
“Word of mouth across New Zealand is telling the story of the (AFUP) programme and its value to umpires, it’s heartening to see new female umpires wanting to begin their own journey,
“A major addition this season is the opportunity to build depth through delivering education & mentoring opportunities for secondary school girls & female club players,
“We look forward to seeing female umpires continue to grow through this programme and reach new heights in their umpiring careers.”
The 2024/25 programme will commence on Tuesday 13th August with an online connect.
Aspiring Female Umpire Cohort 2024/25:
Amruta Bhosale, Stephanie Carr, Regan Combe, Marise Fernandes, Marie Fisher, Michelle McKay, Leteisha Rose, Esther Steer, Moth Sutherland-Tupp.
AFUP Mentors 2024/25:
Kim Cotton, Christelle High, Sue Morris, Tina Semmens, Alyson Shipley.
The New Zealand national cricket team, known as the Black Caps, made their Test debut in 1930 against England in Christchurch, becoming the fifth nation to play Test cricket. After waiting 26 years for their first Test win against the West Indies in 1956, they also played their first ODI in 1972–73 against Pakistan. New Zealand are the inaugural World Test Championship champions (2021) and have won the ICC Champions Trophy (2000). They have reached the Cricket World Cup final twice and the T20 World Cup final once.
