Badge of honour

Don Fennell , Sports Editor

Tony Shaw is in select company.

Decked out in a red blazer, a light blue shirt and grey dress pants, the affable Richmond man is ready to go to work. This week, he’s officiating at the Canadian Junior Open Table Tennis Championships, an international tour event, at the Richmond Curling Club.

But this is really just a practice for Shaw, who is one of only 28 individuals world-wide to be recognized as international-level umpires under a new blue badge system.

“It’s a big honour,” says Shaw, who already has extensive international experience.