IS IT THE COLOR?

You have to love the orange.  After all, the Australian football public has forever embedded “white maggot” as part of the Aussie vernacular, but with the change to orange…well we got them in the U.S. before they had a chance to start.  Unfortunately, so much else remains the same.  This year, as usual, we have had our small but ever responsive team rising and meeting every challenge of umpiring games throughout the vast land, but like our mother country, umpires are in big demand- but hard to entice.

Our stocks at the moment range from our “weekend warriors” who pick up the whistle when they can’t play football, or their team has too many players, to our most highly accredited umpires who pack their bags and fly off to whenever they are needed to blow the whistle around different states of America.

Highlights of the year started early this year, with a call to UCLA in Los Angeles for the historic Australia Vs United States in January 2006.  Jeff Persson and Brian Green umpired this game which was a curtain raiser to the Sydney Vs Kangaroos game, in front of 8000 screaming fans.  It was particularly enlightening for the USAFL umpires to spend their day and duties assisting the AFL umpires who had flown over to umpire the official AFL sanctioned match.  Even more interesting in the evening.

We now have 21 AFL accredited umpires officiating on a regular basis.  These include Field umpires and two accredited Goal Umpires. This year, three umpires received accreditation, or furthered their accreditation at the Las Vegas Nationals in October.  Chris Ballman from Milwaukee and Bob Bitmead from San Diego both achieved their level one accreditation while Seth McElvaney capped off 12 months of hard work to receive his Level 2 Field umpire’s accreditation.  Two other umpires commenced their Level 1 Goal Umpire’s accreditation.

We are always fortunate enough to receive support from visiting field umpires who are traveling in the U.S. from Australia and Canada.  As usual, the Canadian umpires offer terrific assistance at the National Championships.   This year Greg Everett continued to prove what a valuable and resourceful umpire he is, traveling down from Toronto.  In New York, Ron Atlas made NYC his home for 6 months, and made the Bronx his training ground as he assisted with field umpiring in the NEAFL while once again, the pocket rocket, Jeff Pedretti, traveled over to America to assist with the Nationals, and again umpired in a Grand Final.

At the National Championships in Las Vegas there were 16 umpires on board, umpiring over 30 hours of football in the famous Vegas heat.  Some umpires officiated for over 7 hours of football over the course of two days and understandably were exhausted by the end.  Lisa Albergo controlled the officials table and field umpires also doubled up running boundaries and goals when needed.  Thank you and congratulations to those below who helped so admirablyino making the Vegas tournament one of the best we have ever had.
Jeff Persson, Doug Algate, Steve Hasker, Seth McElvaney, Jeff Pedretti, Craig Warner, Steve Arnott, Brian Green, Chris Ballman, Bob Bitmead, Jennifer Algate, Lisa Albergo, John Wilson, Toby Persson, Kirk Kirkpatrick, Greg Everett and Leigh Barnes.

Every year it is getting harder and harder to entice umpires to hang up the boots and blow the thunderer.  There is a great opportunity for all players as they reach retirement, and some of those who should, to give back to their great game by taking up the whistle.  I am happy to say there are a couple of good prospects in the NEAFL who are taking the step and I would encourage all Presidents, coaches and players to consider a role in umpiring. 

In 2007 the goals from the umpiring team, like all football teams, is for success.  Administratively we will focus on the development of an Umpires Association to continue the support and development of umpiring.  This will include the development of an umpiring board comprising of a President and Secretary to take on administrative duties. 

Recruitment continues to be the bane of the fraternity and extra steps will be made through the association to swell the numbers and to make greater opportunities for umpires to join our ranks.  This will be done through clinics and advertising, but is far more effective through the internal recruitment by clubs.  This will be a major focus this year.

Umpire payments have been legislated by the USAFL this coming season.  That is, each accredited umpire will be paid $100 per day by competing teams.  This was proposed as an incentive to both entice recruits and encourage umpires to reach accreditation. 

Finally, thank you to the clubs this year who have offered, provided and continue to support their umpires.  I have seen a steady increase in assistance from all clubs over the last five years and note that the Las Vegas Nationals in 2006 was virtually incident free, a testament to both players and clubs.  In 2007 we all look forward to another successful year, and more whistle blowers getting it right. 

Even in orange.

Brian Green
USAFL Umpire Coach

- Brian Green
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