Nthaga clinches Umpire Blue Badge
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday November 1, 2025 06:18
Blue Badge is one of the highest accreditations for international umpires, indicating they are qualified to officiate at elite levels. Nthaga indicated that in January this year, she was selected to officiate at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Contender Linz in Austria.
During the series, she was to write her Advanced Rules Examinations (ARE) and attend the Advanced Umpiring Training (AUT) class, which started in December.
“Whilst people were celebrating the festive season, I was busy with classes in preparation for the examinations, which I passed, and I got an opportunity to be evaluated.
“Assessment was for me to apply what I wrote on paper practically. I had to pass in order to get four meets,' she explained.
Meets in table tennis officiating refers to achieving a certain performance standard during a match, as determined by evaluators.
An umpire must meet the expectation for a certain number of 'meets' or evaluations to advance in their career.
'I got two meets in Linz and another two meets at another tournament. I was certified as a Blue Badge umpire according to an article which was posted on the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) website in October,” she added.
Nthaga said she was selected to officiate at the World Table Tennis China Smash Tournament, which is one of the biggest tournaments they have in table tennis. She said the opportunity came through when she was on duty at the 2025 AUSC Region V Games that were held in Namibia, where she was the competition administrator.
“I passed my competition manager examination last year in December, so I qualified as a competition manager in progress, and got the opportunity to do that at the AUSC Region V Games this year, as my first official assignment after passing the exam. Going to China, I was going for my first assessment to achieve the gold badge,” she said.
“Whilst in China, I was selected to umpire the mixed doubles finals, which I did brilliantly. I was given the WTT China Smash mixed doubles umpire award. It was a true testament to my sacrifice and how I continue to excel. I was the only African at the championship.”