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Joined December 2015
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Sports Fanatic, always want to do my bit to make sure that any sport is the best it can be! Will watch almost any sport, nothing like the atmosphere of live sport! Liverpool FC
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Being an umpire or referee in any sport is a tough, and often thankless job. You are constantly assessed and criticised by the vast…
Hi MJ!
There will always be different levels of respect in different grades throughout Australia. The large positive that I see there is a competition full of 12 and 13 year olds that are setting a good example and respecting the umpires! It is frustrating to be on the other end of the scale, and hopefully the women realise that they need to change their attitude next season. The times this year that I was mentoring younger umpires in the junior/youth girls/women’s competitions, I was pleasantly surprised with the conduct of the players, so let’s hope there is more good conduct over the next year!
The welfare of the players is always the number 1 priority. As you mentioned, you have the responsibility to ensure that the injured player gets care that is needed at that situation. It is worth cutting a game short to ensure that a player with a possibly serious injury gets the medial attention needed. It’s good to hear that the player was okay.
Umpiring really is a thankless task, and you have shown your commitment to AFL in action. Umpiring two games, and playing another is a huge day, and doing this over a full season would be a lot of time away from your family and friends. Sport cannot occur to the level that we know it without the sacrifice similar to what you have, and what you look like continuing with. For that I thank you, and wish you all the best with your future in footy, whether that be umpiring, playing, coaching, or any other avenue you pursue.
Double standards for umpires
Hi Frank!
With the advances in technology, and more and more forums like this available for discussion of current events, AFL isn’t an exception. Mostly this is great for footy, as people can share their opinions with like minded fans. Unfortunately, there will always be people believing they have the right to abuse the umpires.
It was with good cause that the vilification of Adam Goodes was condemned, racism has no place in today’s world, and footy is no example of that. In the same vein, being an umpire should not allow a free pass to receive abuse from other supporters. We, as AFL fans, are better than that!
My solution that has worked okay (and is similar to the second story above) is to call the person out! Mention that their comments are not acceptable in a public forum, and that umpires are people as well, At the higher levels (AFL, State Leagues, First Grade competitions), the respect for the umpires is generally increasing, and with a greater awareness, this will slowly filter through to the other grades!
Double standards for umpires
It is a story that I enjoy, but still am a little embarrassed that it went that way!
Those reactions are more common than you might think, a lot of people forget that the umpires/referees are people as well!
I spent most of this year umpiring in the AFL Canberra first grade competition, and at the grand final, a group us umpires in the stands got into a little good-spirited banter with one teams supporters, and they were surprised that we would do that!
Double standards for umpires
Thanks Vocans! This was the first time that I have tried writing something like this.
I happened to be sitting in Melbourne Airport in transit and just felt the urge to write a lot of random thoughts down, which ultimately became this!
I’m glad to see that you enjoyed the insight, being out on the field is well and truly the best view of the footy! The AFL have taken some steps this year to get the view of the Umpires as a whole out to the public, through the “Whistleblowers” Podcasts with Nat Edwards/Hayden Kennedy/Luke Ball each week, explaining why some of the calls were made each week. It is good to see the difference in perspective from an umpiring (Hayden Kennedy umpired almost 500 AFL games, and is the current AFL Field Umpires Coach) and players (Luke Ball – Former Player on the Laws of the Game committee). If you are looking for a little more perspective, I would definitely recommend watching this if you get the chance each week!
On another note, this is becoming more commonplace in sport lately. During the week, Ben Williams, an A-League referee (who also refereed at the 2015 FIFA World Cup) apologised for not making the correct call on a penalty decision, and explained the reason why he made the other call. Also, have a look at the article linked above from Robert Murphy (as well as a few other pieces he has written about AFL Umpires) to hear a little of his experiences while training with the umpires.
I’m hoping to do a few more of these if I ever get any more impulses or experiences umpiring. It’s been a great first 10 years of umpiring for me, so there are many stories to be told if it comes to it.
Double standards for umpires
Hi Wayne,
I’m sorry to hear that, being called a cheat is one of the worst thing to say to an umpire that is out there doing their best! Luckily, with every instance similar to this that I have encountered has been well dealt with. The structure of the rules allow for a send off, or sin-bin in Junior footy, and filing a report or incident report with the league in senior footy. The higher ups in most leagues know the importance of umpires, and will do their best to make sure this doesn’t happen again!
Being an umpire (or any other named official) is tough in any sport. Let’s hope that spectators start to realise this, and give all umpires a nicer run, for the good of the future game!
Double standards for umpires
Hi Simmo,
There are protocols that occur in for AFL. Umpires have the ability in junior footy to use a sin-bin style send off, and in senior footy, report a player to a tribuneral that will decide the penalty handed down. There are Match Managers at every match from the home team, that are the umpires first point of call for any instances of crowd misbehaviour. In all levels of footy up until the AFL itself, serious instances of abuse towards umpires can (and almost always do) result in the player being sent off for the rest of the game, and sent to the tribuneral as well.
I have been umpiring AFL for 10 years now, as well as many seasons of soccer, cricket and futsal, and agree that needing to remove abusive spectators from the playing area is an unfortunate, yet necessary part of our jobs, and relies on the cooperation of the clubs and Match Managers appointed, to support the on field officials to ensure this runs as smoothly as possible.
Double standards for umpires