AFTER more than 600 games and 40 years, Noel “Turtle” Slade is calling stumps for one last time.
The 75-year-old veteran umpire of cricket and football will retire from the former at the end of the season, citing health reasons.
“I love doing it, I would like to keep going but I’ve got to pull the pin sometime,” Turtle said.
“(But) I’ll have one more year footy umpiring, you can’t go home and sit around all day – you’d go bonkers.”
While Turtle is hazy on the finer details, he recalled club umpiring for St John’s in the Red Cliffs league while he was still a player – in the days where teams had to umpire themselves.
“It was a long time ago, I think I finished in the ’70s or ’80s – we won a premiership then just gave it away,” he said.
“I wouldn’t have a bloody clue (when my first SCA game was), it would have been in the seconds.
“I’ve done firsts grand finals, seconds, thirds, fourths, you name it.”
One mark Turtle will always be proud of is his First Division grand final record – which saw him elevated to one of the Sunraysia Daily Sunraysia Cricket Association umpires of the past 20 years.
“In the last 20 years I’ve done seven, the rest would be seconds or thirds,” he said.
Turtle officiated in the First Division grand finals 04-05, 06-07, 08-09, 09-10, 10-11 (with son, Gavin), 13-14 and 14-15.
A life member of Willowfest, having been there from the start, and the Sunraysia Cricket Umpires Association, where he has worn many hats and still runs the bar 30 years on from taking the gig, Turtle has been one of the most dedicated umpires in the association.
One of the quirkier characters of Sunraysia sport, he earned his moniker at age 14.
“I was working at the Aurora (Packing Company) and one of the fellas said you move as fast as a turtle – and it stuck,” he said with a laugh.
“I was 14 when I got that, so 61 years – a lot of people only know me as Turtle.”
Spending hours on end with players of various clubs, Turtle has enjoyed up-and-down relationships with the players.
“They love you some days but other days they won’t love you,” he said.
“They remember the umpire who makes the blue, you make that one mistake and they stick to it all day, but if they drop about 14 catches it’s nothing … the players aren’t as bad as they used to be, you used to have some that carried on like pork chops. I can name a few but I better not put it in the paper.”
As for his plans now? Turtle is keen to keep an eye on the umpiring fraternity.
“I’m going to be a spy,” he said. “An observer, I’ll just go around the grounds and have a look.”
