It is not very often that the presence of an umpire will be missed. But last week’s announcement and outpouring of admiration indicates one of those rare occasions, with umpiring great Michelle Phippard tucking away the whistle and the white uniform once and for all.
“I’ve had a very long and fortunate career,” Michelle said.
“I’ve had a lot of great opportunities and experiences. I’ve put a lot of focus and intensity in particular over the last cycle, four years across the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and World Cup in Liverpool.”
There is no denying that her love for the game is still there in spades, but a culmination of factors has put a halt – and ultimately an end – to the career of one of netball’s most revered umpires.
“It’s always difficult to stop doing something you love and something you’ve gotten such enjoyment out of, and that you feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to do – it’s hard to walk away from that.
“But at the same time, you need to know when it is time, you don’t want to hang on for too long. You want to go out being proud of what you achieved, and I feel like I have made a bigger contribution than I ever thought I would get the chance to and that’s something I feel very humbled by and very proud of.”
The decision to step away was far from easy for Michelle, with the umpire taking into consideration a raft of factors including a recent medical diagnosis.
“Over the past 12 months I’ve had a few serious injury issues that have ended up being diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis. That explains why some things have been more difficult than usual. It was one of those things when the physical side of things was becoming a real hassle where it hasn’t been in the past.
“It’s a bit of a relief to have a diagnosis because you start to wonder if you’re going a bit crazy. Given it impacts your joints and your joint lining in particular, it’s certainly made some of the impact work and speed work really, really hard.”
Her physical capacity was not the only thing playing on Michelle’s mind, so too her work and family commitments. It is easy to forget that umpiring is a part-time job, making the juggle between her day-to-day life and umpiring commitments challenging to say the least – especially in the current climate.
“It was a combination of factors over the last 12 to 18 months, obviously some of the pressures that have arisen with COVID and the hub environment and things like that. For me umpiring is a part-time job and I’m juggling that with my other work commitments.
“My family is another factor; I have three kids. Two that are in high school and one in the later years of primary school.
“Obviously with me being away and travelling and particularly the aspect of having to home school it was very difficult to be away. I suppose in a way committing to the idea of doing another four years, operating on a four-year cycle with major events and things like that, is hard.”
A veteran of our sport, Michelle has been an integral member of the netball community for over 20 years. While umpiring was not always at the forefront of her mind, having not picked it up until her early twenties, her passion steadily developed.
“I didn’t really like it (umpiring). I started umpiring like many people do because your coach says you have to do umpiring duty. It was something I did because I had to do, to begin with.
“But the thing that made me look at it as something I wanted to genuinely look at and be good at was when I was in my late teens to early twenties. I was at uni and umpiring out at Knox women’s, I was doing Monday or Tuesday night competitions with Bev O’Donnell. It was a competition where a lot of former state league and higher-level players played, so they were past their time physically but certainly when it came to their mental grasp on the game they were still right up there.”
Surrounded by greats both on and off the court, Michelle saw this as an opportunity to upskill and delve into the minds of some of netball’s finest.
“At that stage as an experienced C grade, working towards B badge, that presented many challenges and learning experiences on the court. What I enjoyed is off the court you would go up to the umpire’s room and make an instant coffee and you could sit down and have a chat about what had happened in the game and what sucked you in, what you should have done differently.”
The ability to converse with her peers and discuss the nitty gritty of the game fuelled Michelle’s passion and encouraged her to pursue her umpiring career more seriously.
“I guess that sort of interaction, developing an understanding and wanting to do it better is when I started to find my enthusiasm for umpiring. It’s quite addictive, always wanting to do it better. I think that’s where it started for me and that’s where I’ve drawn most of my inspiration from to keep going and to keep improving – from those interactions with players, coaches and umpires.”
Over her illustrious career, Michelle had the opportunity to umpire many historic moments such as Commonwealth Games and travelling to Liverpool for the World Cup. Although those moments will forever hold special memories for Michelle, it was the ability for her body to hold up after all these years that is one of her greatest accomplishments.
“For me it’s been the ability to continue to perform at the top level for such a long time because it’s not easy to do. It does involve a lot of focus and intensity.
“The game has evolved a lot, the professionalism of the game has evolved and the demands on the players. All of that has involved an evolution in the way I go about what I do.”
A lot has changed since Michelle first started umpiring netball in the late nineties, with rule changes like the super shot in Suncorp Super Netball and the overall intensity and dynamics of the game becoming faster paced and more professional.
“When I first started doing Commonwealth Bank Trophy back in the late nineties, it’s a very different kettle of fish to do doing SSN today in terms of the technology that is available, the coverage that the sport gets. The demands and the expectations. I think being able to evolve along with the game and stay at the top throughout that evolution is probably the thing I’m most proud of rather than any one event.”
While recounting her journey Michelle highlighted the importance of fostering the development of the next generation of umpires and recognising the importance of their role in keeping the game alive and ticking.
“Clearer umpire pathways would be great, I think we do need to give umpires when they start their journey an opportunity to say ‘hey I really like this, this is something I could be good at’. They need a clear view of how they can get better and what their next step is.”
One moment Michelle looks fondly upon was her B grade umpiring camp when coming up through the ranks in Victoria, noting it as the “turning point” for her umpiring career.
“That is where I identified an opportunity to start umpiring state league, and having the opportunity to work with a lot of people that are experienced in umpiring and coaching like Barbara Ritchie, Juleen Maxfield and people like that.
“That B grade camp was quite a turning point for me in my career, getting that chance to go outside my comfort zone and outside my own region and association and have that opportunity to be seen and work with others.”
Although the future is not clear cut for one of netball’s fan favourites, Michelle is hoping to continue her tenure with the sport in some form given her involvement on the International Coaching Panel as a cadet – a role which Michelle has had for many years.
It’s never easy to say goodbye to a legend of our game, and though we know she will be around Australian netball for many years to come, Michelle will be sorely missed both on and off the court. It takes a special person to thrive such in a high pressure position, and on behalf of the entire netball community we thank Michelle for her truly remarkable contribution to our sport.
