Buriani-Gennai’s journey to the top

By Sophie Taylor

The top umpire achievement awarded worldwide, the International Umpire Award, is a badge of excellence, reserved for the best of the best. 

For newly appointed International Umpire Awardee Tamara Buriani-Gennai (formerly Welsford), it was her self-confessed competitive streak that really got her interested in the umpiring pathway. 

“My sister got her National C Badge, and I realised there was a different pathway there,” Buriani-Gennai said of her first time picking up the whistle. 

“I wanted to be like her, because she's my older sister, but then I also wanted to try and beat her too.  

“That lit the fire under me!” 

Buriani-Gennai was immersed in netball from the age of six, beginning her journey at St Nicholas Netball Club in Penrith, NSW. 

A talented player, she played representative netball with the club from the age of 11, right up until she was 21 years old. 

“I was always that kid at the court,” Buriani-Gennai explained.  

“Part of the representative pathway at Penrith is that at the age of 11, you have to do your rules of netball exam.  

“That's when I did my first umpires’ exam. St Nick's was really big on giving back to the club and the community as a representative player, so I kind of just started umpiring from there as a bit of extra pocket money.” 

The driven junior received her National C Badge accreditation at the age of 15, and from there a chance sighting by then-Netball NSW umpire development officer Jan Simpson sparked Buriani-Gennai’s umpiring journey into action. 

“When I got my national C badge, I got asked to go to a rookie C camp for Netball New South Wales,” she said. 

“Jan Simpson was the education officer there at the time, and she took me under her wing, guided me through the pathways at the rookie C camp.  

“She also advised me to do a couple of other programs like joining Western Sydney Academy of Sport and other educational courses, to expand my knowledge.” 

With a natural talent for umpiring, Buriani-Gennai found the rookie camp inspiring, insightful and a big eye-opener to what the high-performance umpiring arena looked like. 

“I was told by a panellist at that rookie camp that only the top 1% or even less, will obtain an All-Australian badge,” she said. 

“In my mind, I was like, ‘yep, that's the goal’.” 

The rest, as they say, is history. 

After receiving her National C badge accreditation in 2010, Buriani-Gennai achieved her National B in 2011 and National A in 2016, before achieving the National AA (All Australia) in 2022. 

She attended five National Netball Championships between 2015 and 2019 and was part of the Emerging Talent Umpire Program - the first tier on the national High Performance Umpire Pathway – from 2017-20. 

She made her Suncorp Super Netball debut during the covid-affected 2020 season, before earning her first full-time Suncorp Super Netball contract in 2021 and making her international debut at the Pacific Series in 2022. 

“In the last year and a half, I've done three Pacific Series here in Australia, and I was lucky enough last year to be invited to go to South Korea to do their Asian Youth Championships as well,” Buriani-Gennai explained. 

While Buriani-Gennai agrees it was a relatively quick progression through the pathway from talent identification to international accreditation, she admits it wasn’t easy – with injury playing a significant role in her journey over the last 12 months. 

“When I was in South Korea, I actually sustained a really serious injury,” she said. 

“I have shin splints in my both my legs and damaged the cartilage in my left knee, plus sustained a stress fracture in my left kneecap as well while I was over there, all due to overuse.”

Coming into 2024 Buriani-Gennai was still unsure whether she would make it back to the court in time for Suncorp Super Netball, explaining that she “negotiated” with her doctors. 

“I had a lot of my specialists say to me this year I probably shouldn't be umpiring at all… I said to them, ‘well, if I can pass certain tests, would they allow me to be on court for Suncorp Super Netball?’,” she said. 

Making a return, against all odds and in time for the Suncorp Super Netball season, gave her a new freedom on the court. 

“My outlook was just, you know what, you're so lucky that you can even step out on the court,” she said.  

I was just out there enjoying myself and just loving what I'm doing, and I think that's why I was able to get my IUA, because I'm loving netball at the moment, and I'm doing everything to the best of my ability as well.” 

For Buriani-Gennai, the International Umpiring Award (IUA) is the cherry on top of a decade of hard work and sacrifices.  

“The IUA, it's a badge of excellence,” Buriani-Gennai explained.  

“When I got told that I obtained my award, I actually cried, and I asked the panel, are they sure? 

“Because, to me, umpires that have this level are the best in the world. It was never a thing that I thought I could obtain.”  

While achieving her IUA was a momentous occasion, Buriani-Gennai says her proudest achievement was earning her All-Australia badge. 

“That was probably my proudest moment. It took so long and there were so many things that I went through to get to that,” she said. 

“When I got my IUA, it was an added bonus. I was just there, happy to be there, and just loving the games.” 

If she could give advice to her younger self or any developing umpires, Buriani-Gennai says ‘controlling the controllables’ would be her main tip. 

“When it comes to games, how you perform on the game, how you prepare before the game, your fitness, your fuelling, all those little elements come into play,” she said. 

“At the end of the day, the badge is just the reward. It's all about those little things through the processes, that you can execute on your KPIs, to make sure that you're of the standard. 

“If you can get that right, the badge will come, and the badge is the end reward. So focus on the little one percenters that you can control to get yourself there.” 

Buriani-Gennai says it took a village for her to get where she is today, with a great support system away from the court. 

“Reflecting on this journey, it has taken a village to get me here,” Buriani-Gennai said. 

“I'm really grateful that I've got such an amazing family, some amazing friends that understand what I do, but more importantly, an amazing husband that also supports me. 

“We always joke, I'm a part time wife when it comes to netball, because my other relationship is netball!” 

Buriani-Gennai also credits those within the programs who helped her achieve every single accreditation that has come her way. 

“If it wasn't for St Nicholas Netball Club and (club president) Judith Sibbald I would never have started to play netball and picked up a whistle,” Buriani-Gennai said. 

“If it wasn't for Jan Simpson spotting me at a local game, taking me under her wing and getting me to even attend one of the rookie camps, I definitely wouldn't have stepped in there. 

“Sharon Kelly OAM, Maureen Boyle OAM, Helen George, all supported me through my pathways. 

“I guess it's like I said, it's taken me a village to get here.”