Become an Umpire

 

Find out more about becoming a Line Umpire

The Irish Tennis Umpires Association (ITUA) recruits, trains and provides umpires for tennis events in Ireland.

Within tennis there are both line and chair umpires.  A line umpire is responsible for calling the lines on the court and the chair umpire is responsible for calling the score and settling any issues.

You need to work your way up to becoming a chair umpire by starting as a line umpire and progressing from there. Once you are trained you can umpire at local, regional and national competitions and certain selected umpires get to umpire outside of Ireland  (Wimbledon, ATP events etc.).

You will need to attend an ITUA Training Day, which is a free course that provides an introduction to line umpiring. Courses are run regularly. The course includes basic umpiring techniques and practical work on court.

 

Becoming a Chair Umpire. Once you have gained some experience as a line umpire, you are eligible to be invited onto a Chair Umpire Accreditation Course. This free two day course is run as required and will build on your knowledge as a line umpire with an introduction to and training in chair umpiring.  The course is a combination of classroom and on-court work and includes an exam at the end of the course

Progressing and Next Steps

With experience, good assessments and further courses you can progress to Line and Chair at more high profile tournaments.  To find out more, please contact Fergus Murphy, chairman of the ITUA (Irish Tennis Umpires Association): FergusITUA@gmail.com

 

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Jennifer Knapp interviews ATP World Tour chair umpire Fergus Murphy for Tennis Panorama News (www.tennispanorama.com).