A focus on improving education for umpires has already paid off for three Canadian officials.

Sandra Kirby of Manitoba, Brian Fiori of Saskatchewan and Andrew Cartwright of British Columbia successfully completed the FISA exams held in Princeton NJ, during the FISA World Masters Regatta in early September.

“There is no doubt that the training program that we have put in place for them for the last two years has a lot to do with their results,” said Guylaine Bernier, Chair of the RCA Umpires FISA Sub-Committee. "It is clear that it is important for RCA to invest in the development of umpires, first to get good national umpires and after to prepare them to become international FÌSA umpires." Bernier, a member of the FISA Umpires Commission, was also on the Jury for the FISA World Masters in Princeton and was the Regatta Chair for the successful World OutGames in Montreal.

It is getting more and more difficult to pass the FISA exam, believes Bernier. It is a demanding exam and, as rowing grows, there are more topics to be mastered (adaptive rowing, coastal rowing, more technical aspects, more rules, etc). "Mistakes by umpires are not acceptable!"

Sandra Kirby - a former Olympic rower (1976) with a long and distinguished career as an athlete, coach and now official - would agree with Bernier. "The written part of the test was not only the rules and regulations, but also the interpretation of them. The practical examination was a very concentrated examination of virtually everything about a rowing course, rowers and the application of rules. If you knew the rules and were used to thinking about safety and fairness, then the application of them was second nature. I thought it a very stressful but fair exam and am very happy to have made it through."

Kirby (shown here) is no stranger to exams – she is Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of Winnipeg and a sport scientist. Her next project is to present her work on sexual harassment and abuse to the IOC sub-committee in Lausanne, Switzerland.

"I want to thank Manitoba Rowing Association, and, in particular, Don Hornby, for their nomination and I would like to thank RCA for the various contributions to our funding and opportunities to get high level officiating experience," said Kirby. Kirby found that it was a group effort. "Andrew Cartwright, Brian Fiori and I were able to work together in our preparation and we had the benefit of careful guidance of Wayne Van Osterhout and some generous help from Bob Willinbring (Portland, Oregon)."

"I want to recognize and thank Wes Kuran, Wayne Van Osterhout and especially Guylaine Bernier for their work and leadership in the development of Canadian umpires toward the international certification level," RCA Umpires Committee Chair Derek Ventnor wrote in a recent report to RCA’s Board of Directors.

RCA would also like to recognize the following Canadian umpires for their work at FISA regattas this past summer:

Mike Bagshawe- 2006 World Rowing Championships
Don Hornby - 2006 Under 23 World Rowing Championships
Dave Derry - 2006 Rowing World Cup (Germany)
Wes Kuran - 2006 Rowing World Cup (Poland)
Wayne Van Osterhout - 2006 FISA World Masters Regatta

Other umpiring highlights:

Ken Campbell and Rano Basuray represented Canada on the jury of the 2006 Commonwealth Rowing Regatta in Scotland.
RCA/FISA Umpires who were part of the Jury at the World Masters were Guylaine Bernier, Wes Kuran, Mike Bagshawe, Ranojoy Basu Ray, Dave Derry, Victor Georgescu, Jim Marino, Gerry Shanahan, Ben Tekamp and Wayne Van Osterhout. They were supported by RCA umpires Andrew Cartwright, Herb Challier, Brian Fiori, Marie Claude Gaudet, Penny Hartfield, Charles Hauss, Peter King, Sandra Kirby and Rob Millikin.