Trinidad Guardian

October 13, 1999

Page 33

Anne Marie Dickson's international netball umpiring career started by accident.

It's no slip-up now.

 Dickson is today recognized as one of the top netball umpires in the Caribbean and the world.

 Dickson, 43, created history on October 2, when she was asked to carry the whistle in the final of the just-concluded World Netball Championships featuring Australia and New Zealand in Christchurch, New Zealand.

 In the process she became the first Trinidad and Tobago umpire to officiate in the most prestigious game in netball.

 She is also the first Caribbean umpire to officiate in a World netball final.

 Long ago, a points system was used to determine the world netball champions, hence the reason why this country had tied with Australia and New Zealand in 1979.

 Now, there are play-offs because teams are placed in groups. Years ago, Jamaica's Lela Robinson had officiated at one of those points system deciders.

 Dickson, one of three Caribbean umpires at the tourney, said she was absolutely stunned when called upon to umpire the final in which the Aussies eked out a 42-41 over archrivals New Zealand.

 "When I heard …I sat for a while…I was a bit nervous, but I decided to take it as any ordinary game," Dickson said, adding, "hard work pays off."

 Before her selection in the final, Dickson said she had gotten "positive feedback" from the panel of umpires that included Australia's Chris Burton, New Zealand's Don Jones, England's Sheelah Lepath and "strong backing" from the home crowd.

 Dickson's rise to the upper echelon left some of the nationals with a feeling of joy, among those Lystra Lewis M.O.M., M.B.E.

 "This is quite an achievement. Anne Marie has done extremely well. She has worked hard and is quite dedicated to netball," Lystra said of Dickson.

 Even members of the national team, which finished eighth at the competition, were full of praise for Dickson.

"We feel real, real good. We were very happy for her personally and Trinidad and Tobago. It shows that some of our umpires can reach very far," national skipper Monica Maule said of Dickson.

Maule's deputy, Lystra "Twinkle Toes" Zamore echoed her skipper's sentiments, saying: "That is very good for our country. She umpired very well.

Even the assistant national coach Eunice Pena had her say: "We were very proud. Everyone said she umpired so good. They were all in high praise for her."

Anne Marie's meteoric rise started in 1989 when she was asked to officiate at the Caribbean championships in Trinidad and Tobago.

This came about as a result of Dominica being unable to field an umpire, and so, Dickson was called upon to fill the void.

"I must say, I was nervous as well as excited having to umpire in front of my home crowd," Dickson confessed.

Without a doubt, Dickson said, that first universal experience uplifted her confidence and urged her to improve her perspective about umpiring on the whole.

Prior to officiating at the 1989 international netball tournament, Dickson was playing national ball and umpiring at club level in the Port-of-Spain Netball League (PoSNL), the All Sectors Netball League (ASNL), the Men's League (MEFNA), Arima Netball League (ANL) and the Secondary Schools League.

Anne Marie was also coaching Horizon's netball squad, which was formed on December 18, 1993 with the initial intent to play basketball.

That club decided to play netball in the Port-of-Spain League, and created quite a bang winning three trophies in that year ad three more the following year.

Horizon fell one short in 1997, capturing two and was without success last year.

During her national stint, which began in 1992 and ended two years later, Dickson, formerly of Tacarigua, now residing in Santa Cruz, represented TT at several goodwill tournaments in New Zealand, Australia and England.

Additionally, Dickson, who played in the wing defence position, represented this country at Caribbean competitions in Monsterrat and Antigua.

Anne Marie's umpiring career began in 1984, primarily because she loved the game and wanted to see it played according to the rules. Then, she was still involved in playing netball at a very high standard.

"My initial interest in becoming an umpire was to do justice to the game, not that of international umpiring," Dickson said. In order to fulfill her umpiring dreams, Dickson stated, she finally decided to give up playing netball at national level.

"I then channeled all my energies towards becoming a prominent umpire," Dickson revealed in an interview.

From that first major break in 1989, Dickson stated, she was called upon to represent Trinidad and Tobago at several international goodwill tournaments.

Some of these goodwill tournaments were played in New Zealand, Australia, Barbados and Jamaica.

She also umpired at Caribbean tournaments in TT, Barbados, St Lucia, and St Vincent and at the fourth Under-21 competition in Canada in 1996.

The Canada tourney stands out as her most memorable for, in that tournament, she was chosen to officiate in the game for the fourth place play-offs.

"That was my greatest reward," Dickson, an assistant accountant says, adding, "it proved later to be beneficial for me."

Following the Canada competition, Dickson was then invited by both New Zealand and Australia in 1997 to officiate at their Fisher and Paykel tournament.

Responding to that invitation, Dickson says: "One will always work to reach one's pinnacle and when this happens, it comes with feelings of great joy. This was the situation in my case. I gained much from having to officiate at these two tournaments."

Ten years after her first accidental mundane game, Anne Marie got her international badge at the Caribbean tournament last year in St Lucia. This was after she did a screening in Barbados during a seminar in December of 1997.

Some who spoke of Dickson's achievements indicated she had her fair share of "petty jealousies" from others. Dickson, however, refuses to talk about them.

She revealed that it was her desire to continue making a positive contribution to the sport.

"I strive to set high standards which can be followed by others. To help improve other umpires, I would be actively involved in conducting seminars that would teach others to have an appreciation for the rules," Dickson said.

She concluded that it was her wish that her achievements would be a stepping stone for others.

"I am hoping that with my enthusiasm and dedication, I will motivate other umpires and so improve the general standards of umpiring."

Of that one can certainly be assured.

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