BRENDAN LINES
JUNIORS from across the Riverland could be the answer to boosting low numbers of Riverland Football League (RFL) umpires.
Recently, RFL umpire’s director Mike Horsman recently appointed Amelia Magiarapis RFL boundary umpire coach, the league’s first under-18-aged coach in the role.
The former junior tennis player has embraced the role.
“I knew ‘Horsey’ from tennis and he got me in,” she said
“So, I jumped on board and it’s been awesome, I love it so much.
“On Saturdays you get to go for a jog, you get to socialise and you get a little bit of extra money too.
“All the coaches work around all the commitments you have like netball and tennis.
“My sister Alexis plays netball, and they always find a time around when you play so you can umpire.”
Amelia said just about anyone can be a boundary umpire.
“I think everyone should give it a go,” she said.
“Once you’re out here you don’t think about that it’s boys or girls, everyone is very involving.
“You have to work up your fitness, definitely, and know your calls. It’s quite simple really, anyone can do it, you just have to give it a crack.”
The RFL currently has 50 field, boundary and goal umpires on its roster, a number Horsman said he is hoping to push up.
“The problem we have is not all people are available every week for a variety of reasons,” he said.
“So, effectively we’ve only got probably about 16 field umpires, 13 boundary umpires and six goal umpires that are available on any given day and that is not enough.”
Horsman said injuries among low numbers could spell trouble as the season unfolds.
“We probably can cover with what we’ve got but you’ve only got to have some injuries and those numbers become critical,” he said.
“To handle the RFL, we probably want 22 field, 18 boundary and we’d like to have about eight goal umpires.”
Attracting younger umpires requires changing people’s perspective of the men and women in white, Horsman said.
“Our approach is umpiring is a lot more fun than people believe,” he said.
“We’ve got quite a few girls now, and we like to push the girls because they always are pretty keen and are very fit.
“There’s a reasonable amount of money involved and pocket money for kids, but there’s a pretty good return for senior umpires too.”
Horsman said for Riverland umpires the pathway into SANFL ranks is a “very definite one”.
“We have really close contact with the SANFL,” he said.
“We’ve actually had kids go down to Adelaide and they’ve gone on with their umpiring.
“Riverlanders such as Chris Cook, from Monash, who has been an SANFL field umpire in recent years.
“So, if anyone does want to go further we’re only too happy to pursue that.”
To register your interest in becoming an RFL umpire email: horsey888@bigpond.com