In addition to the players and coaches, the technical officials are also actively involved during a match. Irma Villalpando, a Pan Am Certified umpire, is Mexican and has years of experience serving as an umpire in various parts of the world.
Irma began her story with badminton as an athlete and competed at the national level in the junior categories. Enchanted with the sport and wanting to continue adding to the growth of badminton in the region, she trained as a line judge for an international event and from there she began her career as a technical official.
“When I was already in the Sub19 category, they told me that they needed line judges and umpires for the 2011 Pan Am Games in Guadalajara. From there, my career as a technical official began. Enrique Charadan was the one who taught me to umpire at the national level and for the Pan Am Games he taught us everything related to line judges.”
“Javier Orozco, (president of the Mexican badminton federation) asked me how my English was and told me that they wanted me to take my exam to become a Pan Am Accredited umpire. At first I didn’t think that was possible because I hadn’t been a referee for long, but they encouraged me and I applied in 2013.”
The Pan American Accreditation and/or Certification courses for Umpires and Referees are an excellent tool to continue training technical officials and promote them in their careers at the international level. Currently, Umpires and Referees who were evaluated with Irma are serving as technical officials in various tournaments worldwide.
“In that course there were also some umpires and referees who are now known in several countries such as Juan Jose Valencia, Ricardo Salamanca, Dionne Haynes, Fabio Lopes, Alecson Maia, Marlon Lopez, Gilder Pacheco, Alberto Rodriguez, among others. The evaluator was Jean-Guy Poitras and the course was given to us by Bertha Garcia. All highly recognized Technical Officials today.”
At the age of 19, Irma obtained her Pan American Accreditation and that adventure as a technical official took a new direction because she began to participate in various international tournaments outside of Mexico and to be taken into account for the future challenges that Pan American badminton would take on, such as the World Junior Championship 2015 and the 2015 Pan American Games.
“2015 was a year where the Pan American Confederation supported us a lot because we prepared to be in the World Junior Championship that was in Peru and that same year I was called up for the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.”
“When they called me for those Pan American Games it was a shock of emotions for me because 4 years before I was as a line judge in the previous edition and I admired the umpires who were in that tournament and 4 years later I was already up there, like umpire.”
During that year, Irma also obtained her Certification as a Pan Am umpire, one more step in her career that encouraged her to continue participating in different national and international events.
“The experiences that I have been acquiring year after year and how they (BPAC) take us into account each year for the different events, speaks of the fact that there is no distinction between men and women, but rather that they are guided by the work we do to be able to summon us to the events. ”
The performance shown on the field of play and during each competition in which Irma has participated has allowed her to be considered for events in various countries and is now seeking the BWF Accreditation to continue growing as a Technical Official and influencing the development of the mexican badminton.
“I think there are times to achieve different things. I was the first woman in Mexico with Pan-American accreditation and certification, at 22 years old, several years have passed and I think I have the maturity to seek BWF Accreditation and I want to do it.”
Within all this time that Irma has been involved in badminton, she has been discovering various lessons that our sport has given her, such as practicing a second language, English, which adds to her professional life, but also lessons for her life.
“Something I have learned is that not because you are a woman you should be afraid on the court, but rather, on the contrary, we must show how strong we are because there may be players with certain temperaments and a certain character or greater knowledge in badminton than oneself, but who is in control of the match is you.”
“Badminton has helped me a lot to know the value I have as a person because many times you don’t think you’re good at something. Here everything is always very transparent and it is seen that our own effort is what leads us to achieve great things. And it has also helped me to know that the technical aspect has a certain impact on the field because one projects an image and that is a reference for other people. They have given me the opportunity to know and document myself and learn to be able to share that with others.”
Para badminton is also part of Irma’s career as Technical Official. Since 2018, Irma began a new admiration for the sport and that is that when she learned about Para badminton, and its particularities, she did not hesitate to get more involved and spread it also in her country.
“I get involved in Para badminton in 2018, where we are called to an international event in Sao Paulo. I didn’t know anything about Para badminton and I didn’t consider myself a person who could have sensitivity for that sport, but when they explained to us what it was about, what athletes are like and how they compete, I was shocked because I saw pure sport there. I changed the chip and loved being involved with Para badminton.”
The experiences that Irma has lived, meeting goals at a young age and overcoming challenges, leads her to encourage more people to get involved in the sport, for badminton and Para badminton to continue to grow in the region and for more women to achieve what that they propose.
“I would like to tell women that we are sometimes our own limitations. Sometimes we believe that our work is not worth it, that our style is not adequate, etc. But when you get involved in something you can dream and see yourself in the future and establish things that you would like to achieve. Then you know that what you decide to do is going to take you to that goal. I would like all women, regardless of their role, to keep in mind that gender does not define us, that we have to be persistent, not lower our heads, believe who we are and move forward for what we want.”
