For anyone interested, the rooms (and the bar) will stay open a bit longer this Wednesday following training to watch Round 1 of the ARL state of origin clash on TV.

Pizzas will be ordered for supper - stay around a bit longer and cheer on either the Maroons or Blues with your fellow umps at the rooms.

Fish and chips - the good old Aussie Friday night staple, but on a Wednesday night!!

Enjoy a meal with with your fellow umpires - $5 a serve.

Also, try Pinhead's gastronomic experience - fried steamed dim sims!!

Here are the appointments as at 12 Noon Thursday 17 May for Round 6 on 19/20 May 2012 - please note some are still to be finalised.

2012 NFL Rd 6 Snr

NFL May19 20 Jnr

All members please be advised that your 2012 training tops will be available to pick up on Wednesday 23/5 AFTER TRAINING ONLY at the signed pick-up point.

Members are entitled to one top per umpire as a gift from the Association for your NUA Membership. There are only limited numbers of tops, so it is a strictly FIRST IN, BEST DRESSED (pardon the pun) arrangement.

Make sure you quote your size upon pickup. Your name will be marked off the list.

The NUA Training tops are envisioned to be utilised not only at training, but as warm-up tops prior to your match on the weekend as they are in the NFL's corporate colours, which match our on-field uniforms. The tops are provided by Buffalo Sports, our major sponsor, and have a value of $19.00

We hope you enjoy your new tops!

We are looking at runnung a Trivia Night for umpires, families and friends on Sunday night 10 Jun 2012.

This date is the Sunday in the middle of the Queen's Birthday long weekend - not sure if that is a good or bad idea, but we are keen to try something different to get a good attendance.

Please let us know by emailing nua@umpires.org.au  if you would attend a function on that night, or alternatively, let us know which Saturday night you would prefer.

EDIT: 10/5/12

An e-mail was sent out today in regards to this event. Please let us know your intentions of attending or otherwise.

To break the normal training routine, a ZUMBA class has been organised in lieu of training for Monday 21 May 2012.

The class will go for approx 45 minutes, commencing at 6.00pm in the Garvey Oval function rrom - entry will be free, with the cost covered by the NUA.

Limited to 30 places, so reserve your spot by completing the attendance sheet under the noticeboard at training.

It was agreed at the Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 18 Apr that the membership subscription for season 2012 be set at $30 for both junior and senior members.

The NUA Executive continues to provide value for your membership by way of subsidies for our range of off field clothing sales (all items are sold at at $5 off cost price), subsidised entry to both the senior and junior presentation nights, providing food and bar facilities after Wednesday night training sessions, running social activites sometimes at a loss, and this season, offering all umpires a free training top, which will be available within the next month (a voucher will be issued to all umpires in a "showbag" being provided at training in the near future.

Subscriptions are deducted from your pay by the NFL on behalf of the NUA, and the deduction will be recorded on your pay slip for the month the deduction is made.

The NFL Office have advised that if you are still unable to access Schedula, to contact Schedula support via email address support@schedula.com.au.

We recommend you provide as much info as you can to them so that they can assist you, including the email address you put on your Registration Form, the approximate date it was submitted, and your contact details.

As you should know, Schedula is the NFL's new ONLINE SYSTEM for umpire's appointments in 2012. All umpires who have filled in a registration form, and provided a valid e-mail address should by now have received an e-mail inviting you to activate your Schedula account.

If you have not received your e-mail from Schedula, and subsequently 'activated' your account, the NFL does not have the capacity to appoint you to games.

Please ensure you let Director of Umpiring Kevin Smith know if you have not yet received your Schedula e-mail.

The NUA is proposing that a quick education session be held tomorrow during the Umpire's meeting at the Garvey Oval Pavillion. We ask that all Field, Boundary and Goal umpires (INCLUDING JUNIOR UMPIRES) who can attend, please do so to ensure a smooth transition to the Schedula appointment and pay system for 2012. The meeting will commence at approximately 6:45.
 

Regards,

NUA Executive Committee - T.Mahony, J.Forner, C.Wright, B.McWiggan

Help contribute to the Association, buy buying your copy (and encouraging friends and family too as well) of the 2012/13 Entertainment Book.

For just $65, the Book only needs to be used a few times to be cost-neutral and best of all, 20% of the sale from each book comes back to the Association.

Click on the logo to the right of the page (or below this article) to buy your copy.  You can arrange for it to be either posted to you, or made available for collection at Training.

Update: Please note the umpire uniform dedicated session is now 3.30-6.00pm.

Following the meetings at Training on Wednesday night, the Exec would like to clarify a number of concerns and issues that have been raised to our attention:

- Schedula: It is required that each umpire have a unique individual email address (i.e one only you can access).  Umpires may use their existing personal email addresses, or can email craigw@umpires.org.au if they would like to secure a specific umpires.org.au email address.  

Note that a requirement of the Schedula system that whichever email address is used that it is regularly checked late Wednesday each week, by which time your appointment will have been emailed to you.  The system has a built in trigger so that if you have not  acknowledged receipt of your electronic appointment by a designated time, a member of the NFL Coaching Staff will contact you to confirm your appointment.  

The system will allow you online to indicate Unavailability in advance, and in those instances, the system will not allow Coaching Staff to appoint umpires to an Unavailable day/time.

It is also important that a valid contact phone number be supplied as part of your registration.  Training in the use of Schedula will be provided for umpires before Round 1.

- The 2012 Umpires Registration Form: Can be found under the 'NFL Forms' section, under the League Drop-down Menu.  We also have a copy under our Forms & Resources section of our site.

- Practice Match Payments: These will now be made electronically as they are for regular Home & Away Matches, and confirmed via signature on the NFL Match Report.  Payment for practices matches will be 75% of the H & A Rate.  As part of your registration, ensure you provide a correct Bank Account and BSB Detail.

- Code Of Conduct: In Dec 2011, the NUA Exec endorsed a Code of Conduct.  A copy can be found under the Forms & Resources section of our site.  Please take time to read it carefully.  Those umpires who are appointed A1 Games will be expected (and strongly encouraged in all other grades) to present in a professional manner as outlined in the Code of Conduct.

- NUA Off-Field Clothing:  This includes NUA Polo tops, ties and dress shirts.    A list of these items and the ability to purchase them online is available under the Social and Events Corner section of our site, under NUA Off-Field Clothing.

- NFL On-Field Clothing: This includes NFL Umpire Shirts, Socks, Sweatbands, etc.  These items are not managed by the NUA.  You will need to contact the NFL Office on 9435 8228 and speak with Delwyn Berry, who is facilitating the NFL Umpires uniforms.

NOTE in 2012, all returning 2011 umpires will receive one FREE umpires shirt which is a new design and is the ONLY shirt which is to be worn on Match Days.  

Goal Umpires can request a long-sleeve shirt if preferred.

First year Sunday Field Umpires(Juniors) will get a free Green Shirt - all other first year umpires are required to purchase their 2012 umpires shirt.

Additional shirts are at purchase price.

The NFL Office will have a specific purchase/collection session on Thursday Apr 22 from 3.30-6pm, but you can visit the Office at any other time during business hours.  At this stage, it is unclear if additional specific sessions will be arranged for after hours purchase/collection.

- NFL Match Report Forms: These are being re-designed and a new batch of pads will be available shortly.  The 2011 Match Report form as an interim measure for Practice Matches are located under the Forms and Resources section of our site if you require a 'fresh' sheet(s).

- NUA Constitution:  As part of the NUA AGM, the Executive have undertaken a Constitutional re-write.  Details of the proposed changes will be provided/communicated next week.  A copy of the Current 2008 Constitution is available under the Forms and Resources section of our site.

- NUA AGM: This will be held on Wed, April 18 at the Garvey Clubrooms.  Nominations are being sought for the mandatory Office Bearing roles of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.  A copy of the Nomination Form can be found under the Forms and Resources section of our site.

- C T Barling Reserve: The progress on this item will be discussed at the AGM. It should be noted this venue is mentioned in the NFL's 2011 Annual Report on page 4, a copy of which can be found on their website under the Media drop-down menu, in the Annual Reports section.

We hope that answering these FAQs will assist you with understanding the various 'hot' topics around.

Should you have any further queries, please contact us via nua@umpires.org.au

Stats as at the end of 2011 can now be found under the Honour Board/Stats drop down menu at the top of the page.  Umpires listed in Blue are those who were current umpires in 2011.

The list currently shows those umpires greater than 100 A Grade games.

If you feel there are any discrepancies in the stats, please email us at the usual address and we will look into it.

As you would be aware, the NUA Executive have been negotiating in the off-season with the NFL with regard to Umpires' Pay for season 2012.

We are pleased to announce that across the board a 7.5% increase has been achieved.  The increase has been based on a Base Rate, determined as the A-Grade Division 1 Field Umpire Rate, which has also increased.

In an effort to standardise umpire rates for future increases, some umpires in real terms may receive an increase greater than 7.5%. This is in order to reflect the 2012 figure correctly showing the additional 7.5% of the Base Rate.

In addition to an overall increase, a generous loading scale has also been applied to Finals.

Member Clubs now place a greater emphasis on the importance of Practice Matches, and to that end, have agreed that Practice Match Rates will now paid at 75% of Home and Away Pay Rate, in an effort to encourage as many umpires as possible to participate in Practice Matches involving NFL Clubs.  These pays will be processed as normal via confirmed Match Reports and will be transferred to an umpire's nominated Bank Account.

The League will also use Schedula to communicate appointments electronically in 2012.  An education program will shortly be developed to assist umpires with the transition from physical slips to the new system.

It is therefore extremely important that if you wish to officiate in Practice Matches (and the 2012 season) that you return the Umpire Registration Form ASAP with details of a valid Bank Account and valid email address.

For those umpires who would like to have an email address purely for umpiring communication, the NUA has allocated each 2011 umpire and Life Member with an 'umpires.org.au' email address.  Please contact craigw@umpires.org.au if you would like to activate such an email address.

As part of it's off-season activities, the NUA Exec recently updated and endorsed the NUA Code of Conduct.

A copy of the Code can be located under our Forms & Resources Section.

Equally important to be aware of, particularly with Article 1 of the NUA Code of Conduct is the NFL Social Media Policy. This is the policy that all umpires are required to adhere to as NFL Employees and the policy is endorsed by the NUA Executive.

A copy of the NFL Social Media Policy can also be found under our Forms & Rescources Section.