CENTRAL Rivers Umpires rubbed shoulders with Hawthorn and Richmond players and AFL umpires at the MCG on Sunday.
The community umpires led the AFL umpires onto the field, watched from the sideline as Hawthorn captain James Sicily tossed the coin, and umpired the halftime AusKick grid game as part of the AFL’s Community Umpiring Week.
Umpire, Liam Curtis, described the experience as a perfect day, being on the hallowed grounds of the MCG on gameday.
“It was absolutely amazing to meet all the players and the umpires and to experience the vibe of everyone on the ground,” he said.
“The AusKick kids were good and had lots of fun and had a good game, and the crowd were so nice during it.
“The AFL umpires were very kind and helpful and were super supportive of us.
“I will remember that day for a long time.”
Curtis has umpired with Central Murray Umpires for about five years, since he was invited to do it and thought he would give it a crack.
“I haven’t looked back – everyone in the team was very nice and welcoming,” he said.
“The whole experience at the MCG made me feel really good and made me want to keep going with umpiring so I can do even better.”
AFL aims to highlight the invaluable contribution and role umpires play in Australian football through Community Umpiring Week celebrations.
Its purpose is to promote respect for all umpires across all levels of football and create awareness around umpiring pathways.
AFL executive general manager of game development Rob Auld sees the initiative is important to recognise and promote the invaluable contribution umpires make at all levels of the game.
“Across the course of the week and on AFL match days we’re able to provide our local and junior umpires with experiences that help support their development and further their careers by engaging and learning from our elite umpiring team,” he said.
“Regardless of age, gender or football experience, umpiring is a great way to connect with footy and reap the wellbeing and social benefits that officiating provides.
“As we strive to reach our vision of one million participants by 2033, we need to ensure we’re attracting more umpires to our game.
“While we were able to achieve a milestone number of more than 21,000 last year, we need to keep doing more to support each umpire and give them the best experiences when they’re in the system.
“On behalf of the AFL, I would like to thank all our community umpires around Australia who officiate thousands of games each weekend; without them we simply couldn’t play.”
