A GRANGE-OVER-SANDS man has won a citation, medal and life membership of England Netball for his contribution to the sport.

Alan Anderson was invested with the ‘surprise’ award on Saturday at a meeting of the Netball Europe committee.

He gained the top national umpiring award in 1991 and is a qualified umpire assessor, tutor, committee member and board director who has served on netball’s national, European and international umpiring committees.

He was a volunteer at the 1995 netball world championships in Birmingham, where his wife Ann was coach of the Northern Ireland squad, and as a member of the England Netball education and training committee for ten years was responsible for drafting the very first umpiring competencies.

His current roles include England Netball umpire assessor and tutor, director of officiating for the Netball Europe Board and regional officiating co-ordinator for the International Netball Federation.

And as well as working with UK based officials he has worked abroad tutoring and assessing in Gibraltar, Sweden, Israel and Switzerland.

Alan’s citation says the award is for his contribution to netball, particularly in respect of officiating and for being a great ambassador for the sport.