Association of Cricket Officials Issue 30 | Page 10

From Bulgaria to Barnsley

The name Tsvetelina is not commonly found in Yorkshire. Lina, as she is known personally, hails from Bulgaria – a country not known for its cricketing prowess, yet 2017 has seen her became a prevalent character across South Yorkshire. As a newish recruit, Lina writes about her first year officiating in England.
How did you get involved with cricket and umpiring?
My father loved the game, so I was brought up with it. I soon found that it was not easy, as the game in Bulgaria was a minority sport with baseball, soccer and other sports proving much more popular than cricket. Peter Brett came over and I did a Level 1 course as coach, scorer and umpire under his expert tuition, and this really inspired me. My husband, Rashko, along with his brother, were by now working on fuel development. Their work, and my cricket, brought us to the UK and Barnsley.
I felt that this was my chance to continue my involvement and progress in the game I had come to love.
I went on the Internet and found contact details for the South Yorkshire branch of ACO. I immediately contacted the Chairman, Terry Bentham, and arranged a meeting. We went to a few matches and I scored to help me get back into the swing of things. Everyone that I met was helpful – with the ACO in South Yorkshire being more like an extended family. Things really gathered pace as it was suggested that, although I had qualified in Bulgaria, I attend another Level 1 course in the off-season. I really enjoyed the course that was spread over two weekends and was very happy to attain a mark of 96 %. More importantly, I was making many good and helpful contacts that would help me develop and improve.
A vacancy on the Level 1A saw me on that course, and it was very helpful indeed in teaching me player-management and the finer points of the game.
I umpired more than 60 games in the South Yorkshire Senior Cricket League and a local Sunday league during the 2017 season, mainly with Level 2 qualified umpires. On several occasions I was observed by experienced umpires and this improved my match-management skills. I learned that a joke and smile with the players can defuse most situations.
What have been your highlights so far?
I did the Presidents Cup final in the Nicholas Associates South Yorkshire Senior Cricket League in August. I was astounded as there were more than 300 people watching the game. It went off very well and I was very pleased with my performance, confirmed by several experienced ACO Level 2 qualified umpires. In early September I was honoured to become the first lady to officiate in the 117-year-old Yorkshire Cricket Council Final. The ECB matches I was invited to officiate in at Loughborough( England Women’ s Development Festival) and Bishop Stortford( Women’ s Regional League Finals) were also a huge learning curve, with help and advice from former Test umpire Lorraine Elgar and Women’ s World Cup umpire, Sue Redfern, at Loughborough.
What has been the biggest challenge about umpiring in England?
The language has been only a small issue but the South Yorkshire dialect, especially the Barnsley one, can be difficult. It is akin to German, or so it seems at times. If I am standing with a Barnsley-based umpire, my colleague will generally spend five minutes after
10 email us at ecb. aco @ ecb. co. uk contact us on 0121 446 2710