Umpires must have high physical fitness to perform their duties. Umpires who hold a New Zealand Umpire Award have earned the right to wear the Netball New Zealand logo and are representing Netball New Zealand. Representing a national organisation comes with a responsibility to uphold the high standards of the award. As such, Netball New Zealand have minimum fitness standards for the various levels of netball.
Netball New Zealand, along with each Zone have put together the Community Umpiring Fitness Testing Guidelines. These guidelines are to be followed by all testers conducting the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test for umpires. Please find this resource, along with the summary template to be completed after testing and returned to the Umpire Lead, below:
2020 Community Umpiring Testing Guidelines
Fitness Testing Results Summary Template
Testing must be completed within two weeks of these dates and submitted to the Zone before these dates:
- 15th March
- 1st June
- 1st August (for umpires wishing to attend NZ Open Champs)
- 1st September
These are the levels that umpires need to meet as a minimum standard:
| Umpire Level | Yo-yo Test Level | Fitness Test Deadline |
| Umpires selected by the NNZ Umpire Selectors for the NNZ Open Champs | 15.1 | 1 August each year |
| Umpires selected by the NNZ Umpire Selectors for the NNZ Secondary Schools Champs | 14.5 | 1 September each year |
| All umpires applying for NNZ U18 Champs | 14.5 | 1 June each year |
| Umpires prior to screening for NZ B or NZ C, including endorsement | 14.3 | Within two weeks of the most recent fitness testing deadline |
| All other Umpires (recommended) | 13.2 | N/A |
All umpires wishing to be appointed to NNZ events must provide current Yo-Yo Test results as per the table above. Current means within two weeks of the fitness testing deadline.