Line Umpire Training Day – Part 2

Up and out early and heading to the tennis centre at about 8:30am on Saturday morning.  When I arrived I gladly found the familiar faces of the other successful candidates from day one so I had a quick catch up with them and our complimentary cuppa!
First up was a quick re-introduction to our training team and then introductions for all the students/wannabelinespeople to break the ice.  Then it was out on to the court to refresh our memories and go over calling the long lines during a serve, as we had done a fortnight previously.  It’s amazing how easily I forgot how loud I am supposed to shout – this will definitely always be the hardest part for me.  We ran through this fairly quickly as it was just to get us back in to the swing of things, no pun intended!
After about an hour we heading back to the classroom for some refreshments and to learn about all of the other duties of a line umpire.  They showed us how to call all the other lines (service line, baseline, centre line) and explained that as well as calling the lines a line umpire may have to assist with changing calls, accompanying players on toilet breaks or measuring the net.  It was really interesting to find out all the different duties but it does start to become a bit daunting, although at this stage I was still really excited and looking forward to trying it out on court.
After a quick lunch it was back on court to put in to practice what we had been taught about calling the other lines.  We were split into teams and given a court each.  We would them rotate positions to practice calling each position on court.
My first position was the baseline, a little different from what we’d been doing before because you get a seat, a definite benefit.  All the while we are being coached and assessed on our performance.  Apparently I looked really tense and kept being told to relax, truthfully, I was freezing so I think that’s all it was!

It was a tough afternoon, they deliberately had us on court for about 3 hours and on one or two occasions you do find your concentration slipping and become a little late with the calls.  I would get so frustrated with myself for making wrong calls but overall I actually thought I did pretty well.  This time around we wouldn’t have to wait to find out if we had passed or failed, we would be told on the day in a quick appraisal/interview.  Luckily they were very accommodating and allowed me to go first as I had to rush off straight away to catch my train back home.

It was a very brief interview, or perhaps mine was because I looked poised to run to my taxi the  minute they gave me the decision, with three of the trainers from the day, two of which had been in my group at one stage so had seem me in action.  So, the moment of truth…

Good news – I passed!!

I was really delighted but I couldn’t really dwell on it or speak to anyone else from the course about it as I really had to run the second the interview was over.  And now the training really begins.

The view from my hotel room...very glam

Early start tomorrow for a day full of shouting my head off, mixed with being taught about all aspects of line officiating and what we should do next, or so it says in the itinerary. I can’t wait!

I dread to think what my voice is going to feel like on Sunday. Not only is there a full days yelling tomorrow but that is followed by a Panic At The Disco gig tomorrow night and the Australian Open final on Sunday morning, which will almost certainly involve me hollering at my television. Monday will be a quiet day at work!

I would just like to say, in case I don’t post again before Sunday….

VAMOS RAFA!!

The course was in the sports college, part in the classroom and part on court.  During the first half an hour we were introduced to the team of about seven who were going to help teach us the basics of line umpiring.  The set up was fairly casual, which I was thankful for as I was unsure of what to expect and more importantly what was expected of me, and we discussed the key aspects of working in umpiring.  It was highlighted that we should not get into tennis officiating just to get close to the players, so yeah…busted! But seriously, there was important information about how we would be expected to be professional, impartial, work well in a team and, very importantly, to be LOUD.  The being loud part would turn out to be the biggest challenge of the day for me.  I should point out that there was a fairly small group of ‘students’ around twenty and we were a wide range of ages and of varying levels of interest and involvement with tennis, some players, some fans, etc.

So after half an hour of going over the basics it was to the court for some hands on practice.  We were split in to groups of four and were taught to move like a linesperson! This includes the ‘at ease’ stance, hands behind your back waiting for play to commence, and the ‘ready’ position, used when watching lines during play.  Embarrassingly my leg muscles felt the effects of the the ‘ready’ position the following day (side note: start working out again). The did not, however hurt as much as my throat did that evening.  Shouting ‘FAULT’ at least a hundred times in once afternoon does not a happy throat make, it was completely back to normal by the following morning though.

Following the group practice of the positions and shouting we individually practised called the long lines during a serve for the remainder of the afternoon, whilst being coached and getting tips for the course tutors.  I was a bit self concious at first but the more I practised the more determined I was to get everything right and to shout loudly enough, I was so frustrated when the told us the afternoon was over and we were out of time – I wanted to get it totally nailed!

It was so much though and the fact that I was annoyed at myself for making mistakes means I must really want to get good at it.  Throughout our training we were being assessed and will be told in the next few days if we are being selected to take part in the full training day, two weeks after the recruitment day.

Fingers crossed!
(I am posting this retrospectively so I know what the outcome of their assessments were, I just want to drag it out in a reality TV show fashion!)

This course is run by the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) and ABTO (Association of British Tennis Officials)

Bright an early en route to Stafford for my Line Umpire Recruitment course.

I don’t love the previously mentioned job that I spent too many years working towards, so early last year I tried to come up with a plan B.  There is nothing else that I am passionate about (apart from baking which is a future plan) at the moment, or at least nothing else that led to a job, so I headed on over to the LTA website to find out about becoming a line judge.  I had just missed the deadline for the summer course but when the applications had to be in for the winter course, I submitted mine and hoped for the best.  Within the week I was accepted on to the course, which seemed really exciting at the time.  Now, one week before the recruitment day and with the train ticket just purchased, I’m a little nervous.   Mostly because I don’t know what to expect, and I don’t usually do things where I don’t know what’s coming.  That is why I have made myself follow through and actually do it, because I have definitely considered backing out.

So, I thought I would write about it.  There doesn’t seem to be any information online about this process, maybe no-one really gives it as much thought as I have but I think this could be helpful to a few people.

The first step is to go to the National Recruitment Day, which is down in Stafford (that’s £100 on a train away from where I live), for an afternoon session – part in class, part on court – after which, if selected, you attend the Basic Line Umpire Course two weeks later.

I could, of course, be fussing over nothing because if I don’t get selected to go on to the next stage, well, it’s sort of been a waste of time!  Here’s hoping that’s not the case.  I’ve read up on tennis rules and I’ve watched hundreds of hours of tennis in the last few years, fingers  crossed that’s all the preparation I need.