AAOCO Report 2015
Introduction
This year saw the formation of the Aberdeenshire Association Of Cricket Officials (AAOCO) and a fresh start for cricket officiating in the North-East of Scotland. Umpiring is an art that must not be forgotten and those who strive to keep our wonderful game alive must understand the importance of having a pool of officials to support our game. Starting the 2015 season with only a few umpires available it was a little worrying that there was a lack of coverage for the majority of the G1 matches. As the season progressed new and old faces became available and there soon developed a regular coverage which allowed for a fair distribution of officials to matches.
Development and the Future
I think it’s important now that the ACA looks at officiating in a serious manner. There is a need for development but also for each member club to give something back. This in my mind would see us move towards each team supplying at least one qualified playing or non playing umpire per week. This is a must for the future of our local game if we want to progress. To support this we are looking at running a level one course as soon as possible.
There is also a suggestion that standing umpires do not have enough incentive to stand for hours on a Saturday for a cup of tea and a piece of cake as well as bus fare home. The AAOCO has done what it can to support member umpires by offering bonus payments to those standing. It’s suggested that allocated umpires should receive a bigger fee from teams. This of course is a matter for the AGM and member teams to understand the need to incentivise more officials to come forward.
Finally I’ve introduced paperwork to support the feedback of umpire performances, the majority of the time these were fairly filled in by captains but not consistently. From time to time only the winning captain would give any sort of positive feedback where as losing captains would be negative. It’s important for all captains to be constructive in feedback and to indeed complete feedback.
The AAOCO is working hard to make progress for the future of North-East officiating and we need all the support we can get of both the ACA teams and also other umpire associations.
Thanks to…
The AAOCO would like to thank all the umpires who have stood this year, the Captains who have had umpires allocated who have embraced the new start and supported with positive interaction, the ACA for the support and hard work on and off the field. Finally to cricket its self… we all love the game wind, rain or shine… Don’t ever forget the game.
Regards
BlairThomson
21st November 2015