Umps’ chance to chip in

IT was interesting to see the costs Sunraysia Football Netball League (SFNL) clubs will incur if they decide to push ahead with a junior competition this season.

Umpires and insurance alone will cost each club more than $7500, not an insignificant amount of money.

On top of these expenses, clubs will also need to find revenue to pay for ground rental and other incidental costs like tape and medical supplies.

Anyway you look at it, giving our kids a game of football and netball isn’t cheap.

I appreciate each player is charged a registration fee and this goes a long way to covering these costs, but in the current climate some families may not be in a position to pay these fees.

But maybe we need people like the umpires to put their hands up and offer to do games for free – or at least substantially reduce their fee.

These are extreme circumstances and everyone needs to do their bit, particularly when it comes to junior sport.

It shouldn’t just be the club’s responsibility to provide a vehicle for our kids to play, everyone from the umpires, to league administrators need to play their role.

Umpires are critical in any game of football and netball, but they come at a cost and, in the current climate, it’s an expense clubs probably don’t need.

I’m not saying the umpires should do it for free, but they need to look at what they are charging and perhaps look at the situation as an opportunity to lift their profile and also develop the younger and less experienced umpires in their ranks.

Sunraysia is crying out for more umpires and one of the biggest issues they have faced in recent times is the lack of juniors coming through the ranks.

There are various reasons for this, but one of the reasons is because there hasn’t been enough senior umpires to officiate in games with younger umpires.

With all senior football cancelled for 2020, there couldn’t be a better time for our best and most experienced umpires to share some of their knowledge with the next generation of umpires.

Like any sport, or anything for that matter, the only way to get better is practice. For umpires that means umpiring football matches.

Imagine having one of last year’s SFNL grand final umpires like Shane Garraway umpiring an under-18 or under-16 match with one of the less experienced umps.

Just his presence on the ground, let alone the tips he could pass on during the game, at quarter-time and half-time breaks and after the match.

It’s these people who we need to inspire the next wave of umpires.

Umpires play such an important part of any sport and everyone knows at times it can be a thankless task and often their importance to the success of the game is often taken for granted.

If the SFNL goes ahead with its planned eight-week junior competition, then this would provide the perfect setting to roll out what I am proposing.

It wouldn’t mean the senior guys would need to front up every Saturday, it might mean they only need to do one or two games.

But even one game would provide junior umpires with the best coaching environment possible.

I understand people who take up umpiring do it for many different reasons, but for the most, it is because they love footy and being involved in the game.

Sure a few extra dollars in the pocket is handy, but I just think – in this torubled time – everyone needs to do their bit.