Association of Cricket Officials Issue 30 | Page 24

ECB ACO Umpire Courses Overview This year will see the completion of ECB ACO’s first two five-year plans and the introduction of the next plan covering 2018–2022. This, together with the introduction of a revised version of the Laws by MCC, has prompted a review of its portfolio of education resources. In addition to this, the ECB Player Survey identified having independent trained umpires as a key factor in player satisfaction. ECB ACO is mindful of the role it must play in enhancing the match day experience of players and encouraging their continued participation in the game. The remit for the new programme was to produce more umpires at the lower levels and better performing umpires at the higher levels to meet greater player expectations. This involves a major culture change, with ECB ACO teaching umpiring technique and practice, while participants take responsibility for learning the Laws using the MCC resources. The result is an initial portfolio of three education courses: Stages One, Two and Three. Stage One Designed to give an overview of the basic Laws of the game and how to apply them, and introduces the principles of fieldcraft and match management. It gives the tools to enable a person to umpire matches at the basic recreational level where no independent umpires are appointed. There is no pre-course requirement. Stage Two Designed to give candidates further knowledge and skills to enable them to become members of league panels and is available to anyone who has attended Stage One. It complements the earlier course by looking beyond the basic Laws, builds on fieldcraft and match-management techniques and introduces the concept of working as a team. It is anticipated that most participants will treat Stages One and Two together. There is a discount for doing them both in the same year! Stage Three Not a replacement for Level 2 and aimed at any umpire who wishes to improve. All umpires who have completed the first two stages should be encouraged to attend it together with people who have been umpiring for many years. As well as the interpretation and application of Law it will also cover the management of the match, the field and the players on it. There will soon also be: One of the aims of the new courses is to cover topics only once and in the order in which they occur on a match day. All courses are designed to be interactive, with the participants taking an increased role with their delivery. Similarly, many of the videos and exercises are designed to test the participants’ decision-making thought process. The length of the courses will depend on the tutor style and participants, but each of the first two stages should last between six and eight hours and can be run over one day or two half days (or a number of evenings). Stage Three will be two full days or equivalent. All the stages will eventually be available online, which hopes to increase the reach of ECB ACO for education and recruitment by complementing the face-to-face courses. Participants will then have the option of attending the face-to-face course (as present) or use blended learning to dip in and out of the courses as they wish. Note: Level 1A will continue for 2017–18 to cater for candidates who undertook the Level 1 in 2016–17. The revised education programme is a vital part of ECB ACO’s role in supporting the rapidly changing world of recreational cricket. If you have any questions about the new Education Portfolio, from the occasional umpire right through to Stage Four, please don’t hesitate to contact your County Education Officer or ECB ACO ([email protected]) Stage Four This will move on to the additional skills required for multi-day cricket, as a series of online stand-alone modules which can be used as CPD. The courses are purely educational and there will be no examination or assessment at any of the education stages. They are intended to provide educational training for new and experienced umpires and will not, on their own, create a pathway for progression. ECB ACO is very much committed to ‘Education for all’ (membership is required for accreditation). 26 24 email us at [email protected] contact us on 0121 446 2710 Tutor Familiarisation Roadshow Over 300 tutors have recently attended a familiarisation course (60 of whom are new!). Our thanks to all those who gave up their time to attend one of the days and will spend their winter educating the next generation of umpires. In particular, the session at Edgbaston which was live-streamed to over 60 tutors around Europe, and was a great success!