AFL Broken Hill is holding a Come N Try session for budding umpires tonight (Wednesday, April 19) at Jubilee Oval from 5pm to 6pm, with pizza and drinks to be provided following the session.
It’s a paid gig, so well worth thinking about if you’re into AFL.
With the season set to begin on Anzac Day – Tuesday, April 25 – with a clash between West and Central in each of the senior grades – Men’s, Men’s Reserves, and Women’s – at Jubilee Oval from 12pm, it’s the perfect time to get involved, giving something back to the sport and to see what becoming a field, boundary or goal umpire has to offer.
“It’s about getting people out if they want to get interested in umpiring local AFL footy, which is in high demand. We’re short on numbers,” AFL Broken Hill dual-Umpire’s Coordinator, Robert Hickey told the Truth.
“People can come along, ask questions, we can talk about how much football they actually know and the rules, which we’ll be going through. Hopefully we can pick up a few people that are interested and come out and give us a hand. You can never have enough with rosters and injuries so the more we can get, the better. ”
Currently, there are nine main field umpires across the local league who are heavily relied upon in the A-Grade and Reserves, so they’re looking to grow that group.
In the past few seasons especially, former and current senior players have given back to the younger grades by umpiring, which has resulted in many benefits to the competition as a whole.
Mr Hickey – a former player and coach who’s now an umpire and has been able to secure sponsorship for umpires this year – says umpiring is a rewarding opportunity to get out and mix with different people, with the experience of being amongst and contributing to the game.
“You get paid for it too,” says Mr Hickey.
“Clothing is all paid for and supplied. You have some interesting conversations out on the field and you get feedback from the crowd, but that’s all part of it. People are very passionate about the game. It’s really interesting and it’s quite rewarding at the end of the day and you get some fitness out of it too and a little bit of extra pocket money.”
To register interest in becoming an umpire in an all-inclusive environment where everyone is welcome, RSVP for the event by filling out a form via bit.ly/43869Pr. For more information on umpiring, visit play.afl/umpire.
