From the New Zealand Herald
By Karen Hughes
Wanganui has a strong reputation for delivering world-class athletes. More so however is the growing number of sport officials who are making the grade at international level. (Midweek readers may recall a recent feature on Touch Referee Gary Reid, who was selected to referee at the FIT 2015 Touch World Cup). Softball Umpire Lance Brown has been appointed to umpire at the upcoming 14th ISF Men’s World Softball Championship in Sasketoon, Canada.
Held over 10 days, the biannual tournament will see 16 countries compete for the World title that New Zealand currently holds. Alongside fellow NZ umpire Mark Porteous (North Harbour) Lance has been appointed to the tournament by the International Softball Board.
Like most officials, Lance started as a player (“Softball is my family game. I grew up with softball”). Arriving in Wanganui in 2001, he met local and international umpire Lindsay Edwards. “Through going to tournaments with Lindsay and sharing his experiences, I learnt quickly that there was longevity in umpiring – I could progress through the umpire grades. It was the progression that motivated me early on. Because there is not a large umpiring pool, especially when you go to higher grades and the number of qualified umpires becomes less, you are able to track though the levels quite quickly and advance to the higher games, and quality tournaments.”
Click here to read the complete article and view photo of Lance.