OFFICIATING any sport is often a thankless task.
Finding themselves the target of abuse, ridicule and scorn can often make it hard for any umpire or referee to return, let alone to encourage the next generation to take up the whistle.
Football Federation Sunraysia Referees seem to be bucking an Australia-wide cross-code trend with a healthy number of officials, many of them still teenagers.
These numbers are the result of a concerted push to encourage youngsters to pull on a green shirt, and embracing them as part of their own club within the local competition.
There are 30 registered referees, enough to cover central and line duties for almost every game at Aero Ovals on a Sunday.
It’s all the more extraordinary given that one of the local game’s darkest days occurred less than a year ago.
Last July, veteran referee Anton Wurfel was knocked unconscious and two other people were injured in a melee during a reserves match. Six people were charged by police, and 14 players were banned from the league.
But less than a month later, Wurfel returned to the field to warm applause, declaring that he felt no nerves because he did not want a single incident to define the sport locally, nor his role in it.
That brave declaration has proved to be prophetic and soccer in Sunraysia is thriving this season.
In recent weeks, all referee positions were filled for every game of J-League and S-League action, without the need for club appointed officials to fill the gaps.
A milestone was also reached for Sunraysia referees with Olivia Cirillo, Heidi Gibson and Daisy Sheehan becoming the first all-female trio to officiate a game, taking charge of an Under 13 girls clash between Irymple Knights and Nichols Point.
Football Federation Sunraysia Referees president David Esposito said they are “blessed” to have a healthy number of juniors involved in officiating, who are well supported by experienced senior counterparts.
“In the older days, you would be refereeing at least two or three games each day, but with the number of juniors we have at the moment that hasn’t been the case,” he said.
“Some referees will double up but it’s not always a necessity now. In the past, we’ve had the centre referee and club lines people but we’ve been able to appoint others to take on the line roles, which is great.
“I think it’s a pretty good culture in the referee ranks. I’ve been a ref for about 14 years, guys like Shane Burrows have done it for over 30 and Anton Wurfel even longer.
“As an executive committee, we’ve been together for about 15 years and we really go out of our way to try and make the younger guys and girls feel welcome and protect them profusely like they’re our own kids.”
There is zero tolerance for dissent to younger referees, while at least one senior official will provide support from the sidelines if a younger referee is in the centre.
Wurfel, who is also the referees secretary and treasurer, said officials numbers had risen from just six to 30 since he arrived in the region in 2005.
“It still happens (anti-social crowd behaviour) but in general we’ve been able to stamp it out and really build that strong culture, especially surrounding the kids,” he said.
“One of the best parts of it is the parents aren’t asked to pick up a flag and help. The kids get some remuneration as well but they’re also involved in the sport they enjoy.
“With the majority of game all being played at the Aero Oval facility, it gives greater flexibility for the kids to pick what games they can do and switch between refereeing roles and playing their own games. It’s not a perfect system all the time but generally it works well.”
The greatest tell-tale sign of how healthy the Sunraysia referee ranks are is the reaction of Football Victoria officials when they visit the region.
“The Melbourne refereeing department who often come up to help with official training or oversee how things are going, are astounded that we can get a central referee and two line refs to cover Under 12 games,” Wurfel said.
“At the moment, we’re hearing places like Bendigo has to try and get referees from Melbourne to help fill vacancies.
“Granted, there are a lot more teams and games there, but it just goes to show we’re doing something right up here.”
Further opportunities to referee matches at higher levels are also available for youngsters.
