Umpires Corner 2011 with Steve McCarthy and Cam Davidson

Umpire's Corner Week 22, 2011

Final Milestone

Well done to a couple of goal umpires who notched up milestones last weekend. Clayton Evans reached 100 in his Preliminary final and no doubt will be doing 101 between the posts in a big GF this weekend. In one of the under 19 grand finals it was fantastic to see Bob Seymour reach 500 VAFA games. Great effort Bobby and we hope to see you heading to 600.

Forgotten something

Been a few stories this year about umpires forgetting gear, but so many in one game? Last weekend in one game we had one goalie forget his boots, one forget his watch, but do you believe one of the  field umpires in that game forgot his shorts. Has it been a tough long year boys?

Big Winners

Some of us were able to attend the VAFA’s Winner Dinner on Monday where we saw a couple of our own pick up some trophies. Congratulations to Luke Holmes as Umpire of the Year and Jayde Daly as Most Promising Umpire. Great recognition to both of them.  Click here for photos.

We’d also like to wish Luke well with his upcoming trip to Ireland.

Snapparazzi

What a weekend for the Big H (goal umpires coach Harry Stamos). Friday night, watched his beloved Cats demolish the Hawks. Saturday, watched the footy at Sportscover Arena but made a quick exit before the senior match ended in order to doll himself up for the Fashion Week Charity Ball at Crown on Saturday night.

Sunday, did he show any interest in Dom or Matt or Rob or Craig? Maybe just a tad. He was more interested in shopping around pix of himself with Brynne Edelsten. What a lovely couple. Of course, he was thrilled to be able to compare notes with the VAFA’s own social butterfly and regular poser Sacha Koffman.

And by the way, did anyone catch Koff in the new sit com Twentysomething last week? The injured one still rates himself a chance to make the trip to New Zealand in October. We reckon the odds are twentysomething to one.

Speaking of guys with good tans, some of the St Bedes supporters on Sunday were none too impressed with some of “Koffman’s decisions”. To them, their favourite umpire is simply Koffman. Only problem was that Sacha was sitting up on the balcony while Merv Monty aka Koffman copped the wrath of the Brindisians. They obviously don’t know their left from their right as last time we checked, Sacha didn’t have his name on the left side of the Grand Final honour board.

Handy Cam?

Call it temerity, bravery, injudicious even but the question of the year would have to be the one uttered by Gibbo on Thursday night. Knowing that the Peacock was hoping for a Saturday match this weekend so that he could watch James Hird’s boys bomb out on Sunday, Gibbo asked Cam, “Do you know where I can get a ticket to the footy on Sunday?” Didn’t miss much big fella.

Sponsors

Thanks to the support of Anthony Damen’s Personal Mortgage Managers and Harris Family Butchers at 73 Mackie Road East Bentleigh. Not forgetting Orca and Boag’s.

Macca & Cam – see you at pre-season!!

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Umpire's Corner Week 21, 2011

Good luck and well done!

To all those men and women in white who will finish their seasons with a Grand Final this weekend - congratulations! Your hard work has paid off, and we hope you enjoy the experience. Grand Finals are always filled with atmosphere and tension, so make sure you enjoy a cold Boag’s after the game to wind down as you are peeling off that Orca gear for the last time this year!!

But for some left remaining, the tension starts as we build up to the “big” grand finals next week. All are striving for a spot in that Sunday game for the Premier grand final, but of course the Premier B, Premier C and Division 3 will also be on offer. Look out for wayward elbows and sharp stops on the training track. Seriously, good luck to all concerned.

Day by Day

During the season we tell all our umpires to carefully check their appointments on Thursday night or Friday just to ensure they head to the right game at the right ground at the right time. During finals there is one extra aspect to worry about. The RIGHT DAY!! Yes, own up, how many of you don’t know the difference between Saturday and Sunday and arrived at the right ground on the WRONG day last weekend. We believe it was actually too many to mention. To plenty of those first year boundary umpires especially, WE HAVE GAMES ON SUNDAYS!! OK, Jules and Will?

Fruity

A tough gig for many of our goalies last weekend as they had to endure a double-header which obviously turns it into a long, long day. Arriving at the ground at about 10:45 am for the ressies and not leaving until well after the seniors at about 5pm. Dilemma – when to eat and keep those finely tuned bodies charged and ready to go?

David Hindle thought he’d bring his own snack and of course there’s nothing better to boost the energy than a banana. As we know, at the moment bananas are like gold and sell for about $15 a kilo. Just to be safe, Dave thought it best to place his snack in the valuables bag before the game making sure none of his running mates nicked it. We hope it was a worthwhile investment and it got him through the long day. Once an accountant, always an accountant. Is fruit tax deductable Dave?

World Series of……ok, not really

This Thursday marks the Final Table of the VAFAUA’s very own Poker Championship. After a gruelling (well, not really) 23-round season, the points have been tallied and the Final 8 have been decided. The participants are Grant Wardrop, Cam Davidson, Anthony Damen, Simon Stokes, Dean Schwab, Joe Hartwig…..and a couple of blokes who aren’t members of the VAFAUA, but come along to enjoy the cheap bar prices!

Umpiring in Darwin

The Northern Territory Football League is currently recruiting umpires for the upcoming 2011-2012 season. Current VAFA umpires Mark Gibson, Merv Monty and Tim Sutcliffe have all previously experienced football in the Top End. A fantastic experience and a great boost for your umpiring career. Current umpire Jeff Mann is heading up there in a few weeks to try it out. Go to www.aflnt.com.au for more information.

Sponsors

Continuing to support us is Anthony Damen’s Personal Mortgage Managers and of course Harris Family Butchers at 73 Mackie Road East Bentleigh.

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Umpire's Corner Week 20, 2011

Can you smell it?

Yes, it’s in the air. We’re sure you can all smell finals fever. Springtime is now upon us and with that brings finals football.

Last weekend we had our first taste. As Premier, Premier B and Premier C wrapped up their regular seasons, all the others started the most important games of their years. The sun was shining and it was a perfect setting but unfortunately for many clubs by 5pm the sun had set on their year.

To our crew it was also a big day. Plenty of umpires running around in their first finals and plenty more out there in their first senior final. It kicks up a cog this weekend when the finals start in the top three grades. Keep up the high standards all, the expectations are big but we’re sure that as a group we will meet and exceed those expectations. Bring it on!! 

International Grand Final

A couple of our umpires are pretty proud of the fact that they represented the VAFAUA (and so are we) in the Grand Final of the 2011 AFL International Cup between Ireland and Papua New Guinea played at the MCG last Saturday.

Tom Windlow was one of the three field umpires and Brendan Corcoran was one of the four boundary umpires. A great day was had by the guys as they were joined by umpires from around other suburban competitions (with the exception of one of the field umpires and the emergency umpire  being from the U.S.A.F.L ). Papua New Guinea had the lead at the main break by a point in a  low scoring affair. The game was spiced up by 3 reports at the half time break as the players left the ground but by the time they returned Ireland had regrouped and went on to win the match by 3 goals in front of a crowd of about 5,000. All umpires were presented with a commemorative medallion after the game in a day that will certainly be a highlight of their careers.

Thanks also from Neville Nash at AFL Victoria to the many umpires who umpired the preliminary matches during the lead up week at Royal Park. A unique and unforgettable experience. 

Debutants

There have been many, many debutants this year and it’s been pretty difficult to keep track of them all. But we had a couple on the weekend that we felt were certainly worth a mention. We had two of our umpires stepping out for the first time in a senior Premier C game, so our coaches put them together. Out at Fitzroy we had the very experienced (see, not using the word ‘old’) Ian Clydesdale and topping off a very consistent year partner Jayde Daly.

Jayde was rewarded after some great performances in the finals last year and very good reports in her D section games this year. We hear both enjoyed the day are looking to bigger and better things for 2012.  

This weekend

Good luck to all still “live” this weekend. Do us proud!

Sponsors

Continuing to support us is of course is Orca, Personal Mortgage Managers and Harris Family Butchers at 73 Mackie Road East Bentleigh.

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Umpire's Corner Week 19, 2011

Night of Nights

The VAFAUA’s big Pre-finals dinner was held last Monday night at the MCG Members’ Dining Room and once again was a resounding success. To attain a record crowd of over 350 members and guests was a sensational effort by our President Luke Holmes and his band of assistants. The crowd was entertained by former Richmond great in Matthew Richardson.

As well as the guest speaker being a highlight, our major awards for 2011 were presented as follows:

Golden Whistle Award (provided by the AFL and is presented as an encouragement award to an umpire who is identified as having the potential to umpire at the highest level.) – Andrew Heffernan.

Most Improved Field Umpire – Andrew Green.

Most Improved Boundary Umpire – Robert Hamilton.

Most Improved Goal Umpire – Matt Dervan.

Young Achiever Award (presented to an umpire under the age of 20 who regularly attends training and meetings, shows improvement throughout the year and mixes well with the umpiring group.) – Kit Harvey.

Best First Year Umpire (presented to a first year umpire who has natural umpiring ability, a desire to learn and a commitment to the umpiring group.) – Josh Prince.

Andy Carrick Award (presented to a member of the VAFA Umpires Association who does not reach the higher sections but still performs admirably each week throughout the season in the spirit of the late and great loveable rogue Andy Carrick) – Anthony Simpson.

Bob Dunstan Award (This award is named in honour of Mr Robert Dunstan OAM who is a Life Member of the VAFA Umpires Association and umpired over 800 games in the VAFA. The award is presented to a member of the VAFA Umpires Association who provides exceptional service to the Association – Sean Scully senior .

Ten Year Service Awards – Luke Holmes, Rob Parry & Grant Wardrop.

This year we had no nominations for Life Membership.

Thank to St.Bedes/Mentone Tigers Luke Wintle & Jack Hellier, along with Uni Blues Jack Watts and Collegians Shura Taft for their fantastically entertaining interviews.

Once again, a fantastic night was had by all.

Way Out West

Our piece on the VAFAUA’s budding rock star Jeff Mann was met with some interest and amusement from an anonymous Western Australian reader last week who contacted us with a couple of little pearlers.

Earlier this year a few of the WAFL umps travelled to Victoria for the weekend and bumped into Manny busking at Flinders Street Station.  He has unique ways to say he's playing in front of a big crowd. 1) Turn up where there is already a crowd and just start playing. 2) Tell people they can get out of a cold night's training if they turn up!

 
But I suppose you have to give him credit. A couple of years’ back he won an award with the WAFL and gave possibly the worst speech ever seen. He was a bumbling, nervous wreck. Then he took a public speaking course and now he's on stage singing. Great turnaround!

And in relation to one of our other new arrivals from the west, is it true that (continuing in the train stations theme), Greg Rolfe proposed to his now wife at the train station on the way to a Foo Fighter's concert?! It's still one of the more bizarre stories our contact has heard.

Thanks to the Volunteers

As the year comes to a close, it’s now time for those many, many club volunteers to put their feet up and have a well-earned rest. We’d especially like to acknowledge those who go out of their way to look after the visiting umpires each week. All clubs have these great people and there are too many to mention, but we’d like to pass on special thanks to a man who has done this role for longer than anyone can remember – Lou Belli at Aquinas. Lou makes all visitors to the club very welcome before and after the game and the work he does behind the scenes is immeasurable. Lou, we appreciate you! And all the others out there just like you. Was fantastic to see some of you at last Monday’s dinner.

Yarra Valley Training

Thanks to all out at Yarra Valley who had the pleasure of a visit from Andrew Hartnett (coincidentally a former player) and Anthony Simpson at training last week. We’re sure all parties got plenty out of this venture and breaks down a few of those barriers leading into the finals.

Nominations now open

Nominations to join the VAFAUA Executive for season 2012 are now open. All positions will be declared vacant, and any member is eligible to nominate. Forms are available from the bar, and will require a nominator and a seconder in order to be eligible. Plenty of interest has already been expressed which is fantastic to see. Speak to any member of the current Executive for more information (Holmesy, Woody, Grant, Schwabbie, Rusty, Daggles, Cam, Bec, Robbo, Evo or Morts.)

Sponsors

Continuing to support us is Anthony Damen’s Personal Mortgage Managers and of course Harris Family Butchers at 73 Mackie Road East Bentleigh.

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Umpire's Corner Week 18, 2011

Skip to 300

Congratulations this weekend to the VAFAUA’s own Cadel Evans in goal umpire Clive “Skip” Shipley as he chalks up his 300^th VAFA game. A quiet achiever who goes about his business in a no fuss way, Skip is well known for cycling to all his games so you have to admire his commitment. Well done Skip and have a great day!

Seniors Moment!

We all know that Peter 'Teasa' Teasdale is getting on a little in years, although he still clings on to the faint memories of his younger days (where rumour has it he was a little bit of a ladies man around town!). Anyway, the whisper on the street this week is that Teasa was heading out to trip the light fantastic after his game last week, and decided to splash on a little of the Old Spice to.....spice things up. Sadly for the great man, he wasn't paying attention, and proceeded to lather his face with a generous dollop of Voltaren. Apparently you could hear his screams of pain three suburbs away, and reportedly the burning is still to subside.

Sutty's Secrets?

A glimpse into the kit bag of Tim 'Sutty' Sutcliffe at Uni last week raised more questions than answers. In addition to the expected pens, whistles, tape and Vaseline, Timmy's running partners noticed a veritable dispensary of suspicious looking medications. We may have discovered the key to his incredible longevity, although the Anti-Doping Agency has been alerted to a few of the more 'exotic' looking tablets in his possession. We were also going to make a joke about the 'little blue pills', but Cam's pretty scared of Tim's much better half, so we thought better of it. Hi Hayley!!!

Gig Guide

One of our new members, Jeff Mann is an up-and-coming musician with some incredible talent. Manny is playing a gig at Pony on Thursday night (18/08/11), and in a master stroke of marketing genius convinced Head Coach Tony “Rowdy” Hales to cut training short for any members that want to go along. At the time of going to press, we weren't sure how many were prepared to risk Rowdy's wrath, but we hope Jeff has an awesome show and hope to see plenty of VAFAUA members at his next appearance.

Nominations now open

Nominations to join the VAFAUA Executive for season 2012 are now open. All positions will be declared vacant, and any member is eligible to nominate. Forms are available from the bar, and will require a nominator and a seconder in order to be eligible. Plenty of interest has already been expressed which is fantastic to see. Speak to any member of the current Executive for more information (Holmesy, Woody, Grant, Schwabbie, Rusty, Daggles, Cam, Bec, Robbo, Evo or Morts.)

Pre-Finals Dinner

Monday night at the G will be a beauty as usual as we lead into the finals with this big bash. All looking forward to hearing Matthew Richardson speak and of course the obligatory “after-match”. Should be a quite night on the track on Tuesday.

Sponsor

Continuing to support us is of course Harris Family Butchers at 73 Mackie Road East Bentleigh.

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Umpire's Corner Week 17, 2011

Who's who in the zoo

Although we like to think of ourselves as a family, maybe it might be more appropriate if we referred to the VAFAUA as a menagerie (sounds better than a zoo).

Take Daggles, for example, or should I say The Silver Fox, the moniker given to him by the Old Camberwell fans at Ormond last week.  Then of course there's the feathered variety, the Magpie, Dom. (Gee I hope The Prez has downloaded that footage of the netting incident).  And who could forget The Peacock, Big Cam.  Obviously, he wants to because he's changed his graceful holding the ball signal in an effort to lose his nickname.  Maybe Heff ( not Jeremy) should be called The Pup but at the other end of the scale what should we call Chuck?  We suppose Galapagos turtles are pretty ancient.

Two certain goal umpires could be named after creatures that stay at home even though they have a burning desire to get into the action. The word “eunuch” springs to mind. And of course we have Spider, Leah.

Other possibles even too obvious to rate much of a mention: Felix White, Zeke Ox, Leigh, Brock or Jaron Fisher, Lionel Katz, Kit Harvey.

Thanks to the “Dartfish Doctor” for his contribution to the column this week.

Thanks from Tupps.

Paul Tuppen would like to thank all involved in helping him celebrate his 300th VAFA game last weekend at Domeney Reserve.  To both clubs in Yarra Valley and West Brunswick and of course his running partner AD.  Paul would like to specially thank the Yarra Valley President Ron Garlepp for presenting him with a magnificent bottle of red wine.

Acme Blunderer

We tell our young umpires to check their bags on Friday night to make sure nothing is missing. There should also be a thorough check before the panel “walks”. Obviously one field umpire had a few things on his mind when he strode onto the Junction Oval last weekend.

As the ball was about to be bounced he realized there was something reasonably important missing from his person – a whistle! A quick sprint back inside to retrieve it and the game was underway. As the game went on maybe the crowd was wishing he’d left it behind. No names here, but there was a PAIR of Daves running there. Guess which one!

Long day at the Park

Another thing we tell the youngsters is to arrive at the ground nice and early. Although we’d suggest that 11:20 am for a 2 pm game may be just a little too anxious. Goalie Dom Napoli got nabbed for parking illegally and received a hefty fine on a recent trip to Toorak Park. So last weekend he thought he’d better arrive nice and early and secure a legal spot. Probably should have goal-umpired the reserves as well as the seniors. Great dedication Dom!

Fishy Goalies

Good to see the goalies helping each other out during a game, even if it’s with a goalie who isn’t even involved in the game. Last Saturday we saw the legendary goal umpire Garry Clancy (who was given the moniker of The Flounder many years ago by the long-retired Colin King) go missing with the sun in his eyes after a behind was scored at the opposite end. As everyone waited for Garry to reach for the flag Mazenod ressies and FIDA goal umpire Peter Fisher alerted Garry and the field umpires from his vantage point on the wing. Thanks for your help Fish.  

Sponsor

The place to “meat”. Yes, that was lame, but the quality isn’t at Harris Family Butchers at 73 Mackie Road East Bentleigh.

Any gossip?

We know about a milestone next week, but if there is anything else newsworthy out there get onto Cam at Cameron.davidson@beaconhills.vic.edu.au or Macca at Steve.McCarthy@monash.edu No spam or inappropriate material please!! However, lies and absolute fiction will be published if it makes interesting reading.

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Umpire's Corner Week 16, 2011

New generation

There’s no doubt Macca feels his age most weeks having been around the VAFA since black and white TV.  A couple of weeks ago he arrived at Ormond and was told that three youngsters would be making their debuts in the seniors.

Not that unusual you say, but interestingly Macca had been on the field with their dads about twenty years earlier.  Michael Barnes (son of the legendary Russell) and Alistair McCooke (son of Steve) were joined by Henry Simon (son of four-time A section umpire Richard).  All had great games and certainly a lot more in the tank than Macca at the end of the day.

Of course he did outlast them at the after-match as did Richie Simon.  Just another great example of the VAFA fostering family football. 

The Frequent Fireman

Interesting sight last Saturday. (Pick it up on Dartfish if you can.) The field umpire pays a free in the forward pocket, the OMs player turns round and bangs through a point.  Unnamed goal umpire and fireman saunters over past the point post, collects the ball, gives it to a Scotch player for the kick out , and dawdles back towards the goals before noticing the frantic fieldie giving the longest all-clear signal in VAFA history.  Obviously there’s a lot to concentrate on these days besides just signals and waving flags. 

Milestone for Tupps

Congratulations to Paul Tuppen who steps out for his 300^th VAFA game when he raises the ball out at Yarra Valley this afternoon.  Tupps is keeping his achievement fairly low key but it couldn’t go past without acknowledgement from us.  Tupps has taken 16 years to reach this day and from all reports is looking forward to assisting the younger umpires with us next year.  Hope it’s a great day Tupps and don’t let AD lead you astray. A great contributor to the VAFAUA both on and off the field.

Don’t forget the sponsors

Don’t forget our ongoing association with major sponsors Orca and Personal Mortgage Managers (talk to AD for you mortgage needs), and a couple of new ones who have come on board this year.

Boags have kindly agreed to assist us with match day polo shirts (minus the logo for those underage umps!), they give us a professional look and have certainly been a hit.  Not forgetting the fantastic supplies filling our fridges.  Finally, the good folk at Harris Family Butchers (73 Mackie Rd, East Bentleigh) have done a fantastic job in providing us with meat for our regular BBQs.

Any gossip?

We get sick of making up stuff every week- if you have any genuine gossip, scandal or want to congratulate someone- let us know!  Get onto Cam at Cameron.davidson@beaconhills.vic.edu.au or Macca at Steve.McCarthy@monash.edu .  No spam or inappropriate material please!!

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Umpire's Corner Week 15, 2011

Frequent Flier Fireman

Not totally sure on the exact details of this one, so we’ll make them up.

Bernie “The Fireman” Hoare was on a plane recently returning from a particularly tropical holiday location.  During the flight, the great man may have consumed a little too much of the duty free liquor, and started to feel a little constricted around the chest area.  Upon landing, he was still a little unsteady on his feet, and a wheelchair was immediately dispatched to get him safely from the plane to the baggage carousel.  The scene was certainly reminiscent of Christopher Skase (minus the oxygen mask!).

All jokes aside, we’re glad to see Bernie back in business after what could have been a serious incident!

Balltearers 500^th.
 
A great day was had by one and all to celebrate a “characters” 500^th game.  Special thanks must go to both Rupertswood and Old Essendon who, along with the other five running umpires formed an impromptu guard of honour for BT, who strode out to the applause of all in attendance.

 
A bit like BT, Rupo’s ground is infamous but it was in pretty good knick on the day except the goal square and BT’s 1^st gift for the day was a spray of mud all over the white jacket, the 2^nd was a beautifully finished tankard that Rob Morrice (Rupo Pres) very kindly presented to BT’s surprise at the conclusion of the game.  They go back a long way together and BT very much appreciated Rob’s kind and thoughtful words.  Although Rob may well regret the offer “that BT can come back and get it filled up free anytime”!!  Maybe we should recommend Boags as a potential sponsor?

Back on the mend

Great to see co-Scribe Macca back on the horse at training last week and umpiring on the weekend.  For those who don’t know, the great man had a bit of a health scare a couple of weeks back and had to undergo surgery.  Rumour has it that he was certainly in his element recuperating on the couch, and spent most of his recovery time watching Dartfish.

Big V Champion

Well done to Brian “Benny” Goodman with his induction as a Big V Champion at the Big V Lunch last week.  A couple of tables of umpires past and present were there to celebrate the big occasion. 

Credit where it’s due

A big shout out to Social Secretary Jason “Evo” Evans.  Most weeks, Evo cooks up a storm in the kitchen, feeding between 30-40 people each Thursday for a very reasonable price.  Last week a couple of the poker players also took some of the leftovers home for lunch the next day!  Thanks for your work Jase!

BBQ

Another great Thursday night BBQ coming up this week (Thursday 28/07/11) with thanks to our sponsors at Harris Family Butchers at 73 Mackie Road East Bentleigh.

Any gossip?

We get sick of making up stuff every week- if you have any genuine gossip, scandal or want to congratulate someone- let us know!  Get onto Cam at Cameron.davidson@beaconhills.vic.edu.au or Macca at Steve.McCarthy@monash.edu .  No spam or inappropriate material please!!

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Umpire's Corner Week 14, 2011

Balltearer’s Big One.

One of the all-time legends of the lower grades David “Balltearer” D’Altera celebrates his 500^th VAFA game this Saturday.  “Tearer” who waves the flags these days after a long career as a field umpires provided us with a bit of a background.

In his words:

I first came to the VAFA in 1985 with my old mate Ronnie (OFTS) Smith.  Ron and I started with the VFA in 1979 and umpired for six years doing Under 19s and Panton Hill League matches.  Unfortunately in my first season with the VAFA, I sustained a cartilage injury and missed the later stages of the season.

Although I have never umpired a Grand Final as a  field umpire, I have done quite a number both as a boundary or goal umpire.  I also have kept busy on Sundays, umpiring in the Yarra Junior League since 1992 and have goal umpired there since 2009.

I ran my 450th VAFA matches as a Field Umpire, and now crack the 500 mark as a Goal Umpire.  I have had a number of overseas trips which were very enjoyable, so maybe it has taken me a little longer to reach such milestones!  The greater majority of games umpired have been in the D Sections & Under 19s.

I have seen a number of Advisors come and go over the seasons, each with their own individual styles and approach.  I consider the VAFA a great environment to be, especially for younger umpires wishing to attain progression.  Finally, I wish to thank my partner Lidiya for her continued loyal support on weekends.  Also to the clubs and players for "putting on the show" each round.

Well done Balltearer, have a great day.

Belated thank you

Last week we thanked all at Prahran/Assumption and Yarra Valley for the way they helped celebrate Anthony Damen’s 450th VAFA game the week before.  AD asked us to send a special shout-out to Neil “Bubba” Wallmeyer for presenting the match ball and magnificent bottle of GRAMP’S red wine.

Thanks Bubba, always a great supporter of the umpires.

Pre-Finals Dinner

Don’t forget Monday 22^nd August at the G.

Contact Rusty Davidson as soon as possible if: 

1. You are bringing a partner
2. You require a special meal.
3. You wish to request a car parking space.

Every umpire is expected to attend unless they have provided Rusty with a written note stating otherwise.

More details to follow, but it promises to be a huge night.
 
A word from our sponsor

Don’t forget to head down to Harris Family Butchers (73 Mackie Road, East Bentleigh).

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Umpire's Corner Week 13, 2011

The First Family

The biggest match on the FIDA calendar was held last Sunday at Windy Hill in Essendon where FIDA Victoria took on a representative team from South Australia.  Once again members of the VAFAUA volunteered their time and skills to ensure the game went ahead and all players had an enjoyable game.

FIDA Life Member Mark Gibson took charge in the middle while boundary and goal umpiring duties were completed by the Scully family.  Sean Snr and Daniel were in the goals and Sean Jnr and James were on the boundary.  This was the first time all four members of the Scully family had umpired in a game together.  A great day was had by all.  And the Vics won!

Representative Umpires

Well done to all the umpires who represented us at Shepparton last weekend.

In the under 19 game we had Josh James (F), Howard Harris & Keiran McInerney (B) and Josh Prince (G).

In the C – D4 game we had Andrew Heffernan (F), Andre Jemison & Andrew McNamara (B) and Matthew Dervan (G).  In the main game we had Luke Holmes (F), Gavin Boyd & Ryan O’Shea (B) and Clayton Evans (G).

Did us all proud boys!

Frequent Flyer Flounder

Gotta love the dedication to the cause.  Goal umpire Gary (Flounder) Clancy left his St Albans home on Saturday at 7:30am, travelling by train, to goal umpire the St. Francis Xavier vs Swinburne Uni D4 Game at Beaconsfield.

Gary, never short for a word, explained to the umpiring team that it was a 44 railway stations adventure from St Albans to Beaconsfield, taking a tad under 6 hours. A great way to enjoy the sights of Melbourne.

Post game, with refreshments (travellers) in hand, he pointed out that the reward was a great close scoring game resulting in Swinburne just scraping in by 11 points.   A lift back to Caulfield got Gary home early than expected.  Many thanks to his partner on the day.

Mum’s the word

Many of the younger umpires out there rely on their extremely patient parents to drive them to and from their games. They arrive early, watch the game with pride and depart after a very long day. Well it seems like one of our more experienced umpires thought it was a good idea to take his mum to a game.

Veteran field umpire Paul Jones took his elderly mum along to watch his most recent performance at South Mornington.  Jonesy asked club officials if they wouldn’t mind looking after his mum for a little while whilst he was freshening up after the game.  To his surprise as he walked into the after-match, there was Mrs J. holding court with chardy in hand with a large group of players looking very much a part of the furniture. Later as she was finally dragged off for the trip home there were hugs and a few pecks on the cheek for the club’s newest and most popular visitor. Any truth in the rumour that she had slipped them a bit of the secret potion that Paul serves us after training? Seem the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

ADs 450th

Anthony Damen would like to thank all involved in helping him celebrate his 450^th VAFA game last weekend at Toorak Park.  To both clubs in Prahran/Assumption and Yarra Valley and of course his running crew, thanks for making the day so memorable. 

Pre-Finals Dinner

Don’t forget Monday 22^nd August at the G.

Contact Rusty Davidson if: 

1. They are bringing a partner
2. They require a special meal.
3. They wish to request a car parking space.

Every umpire is expected to attend unless they have provided Rusty with a written note stating otherwise.

More details to follow, but it promises to be a huge night.
 
A word from our sponsor

Don’t forget to head down to Harris Family Butchers (73 Mackie Road, East Bentleigh).

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Umpire's Corner Week 12, 2011

RIP Jo

On behalf of the VAFAUA President Luke Holmes and all at the VAFAUA we wish to advise all that during the week we lost one of our dearest members in Jo Cox after a brave battle against cancer.

Jo originally joined us to run the boundary and soon took up the challenge to become a field umpire. She was progressing well through the under 19s until her illness. Deepest condolences to husband Nick and family. A lovely, bright bubbly member whose big smile and cheery disposition will be sadly missed.    

More Milestones

Our first milestone this weekend is certainly a big one. Anthony Damen steps out for the 450^th time as he takes control of the big top of the table clash at Toorak Park between Prahran/Assumption and Yarra Valley. As most would know, AD spent many years running around at the top level and was a very popular regular in A section, in particular at the after-match. His highlights include the B section grand final in 1998 and 4 C section grand finals. After stepping down a couple of grades a few  years ago, he has become a “hit” in Divisions 2 and 3 and also been of great encouragement to many of those young up and coming umpires as they start their rise to the higher grades. The former Powerhouse legend (we had to say that) now enjoys the odd game of poker and is an integral member of the VAFAUA as a major sponsor. (See below) Have a great day with Stokesy and Chuck.

The other milestone this week is to the very popular Peter “Tugger” Pullen and his 150^th game. Tugger joined the VAFA in 2003 and like AD, is a pretty well-known figure in the lower grades. He also commenced umpiring with the MSJFL in 2006 and mentors many young umpires and helps them through their transition to the VAFA. After umpiring on a Saturday, at times he can umpire as many as three junior games on a Sunday. A pretty full weekend! He’s now the Assistant Advisor at the MSJFL and is currently undertaking the AFL Umpires Coach Development Program. He also umpired for 3 years in Tokyo for the Narita Cup run by Japan AFL, including 3 international grand finals. Well done, Tugger!

Poker Paradise

The VAFAUA Annual Poker Night was held last Saturday night. Most of the renowned sharks were in attendance, with big names such as Stokesy, AD, Cam, Patty Gallus and Dean Schwab all confident of their chances. The ultimate prize on the night went to a mate of our esteemed Vice President, known only as "Snake". Second place went to Pat G, and it was good to see Felix White and Bec Brown also taking home some money.

A special thanks to AD, Macca and Jane Segota for their help in organising the evening and working the bar. Despite being knocked out very early, Cam still had a good night - his side bet of $20 with Stokesy that Essendon would get within 40 points of Geelong never looked like losing with the mighty Bombers taking the chocolates. Another quality Saturday night at Sportscover was had by all.

Inauspicious comeback!

This column seems to revolve around the scribes a little bit, but because nobody else gives us any material we don't feel too bad about it. There's been a rumour floating around that Big Cam might have been considering a return to pulling on the boots next year at any club that will have him (not too many in line at the minute). Last Sunday while umpiring a FIDA practice match, Cam got a little fed up with the amount of good-natured advice he was receiving from one of the North Ballarat players and suggested that particular player should have a crack at whistle blowing.

Unexpectedly, the offer was accepted, and the whistle was exchanged for a black and white guernsey. In the last quarter, Cam amassed 4 kicks (4 ineffective), 2 marks and scored a solitary behind for a total SuperCoach score of 7. Interested clubs can email us at Umpire's Corner.

He Said What?

Last Thursday night during the monthly meeting of the Association, Prez Luke Holmes was passionately extolling his opinions on the all too frequent instances of umpires being labelled cheats. Holmesy was adamant (as we all are) that any player who calls us cheats should be instantly reported. So committed to the cause is the great man, that he informed us all that he'd rather be called an 'animal fornicator'.

Joey Hartwig's query about whether that particular insult is also reportable will be addressed next month.

Member of the Month

A big wrap to Sean Scully Snr, who is our third Member of the Month. Sculls is part of the furniture down at the VAFAUA and goes above and beyond the call of duty each and every week. His contributions are thoroughly appreciated, and he is a wonderful asset to our organisation. Great work Senior!!

Sponsors

Don’t forget our longest standing major sponsor in Personal Mortgage Managers, you can contact 450 game umpire Anthony Damen for your mortgage needs.

And as we know,Harris Family Butchers of 73 Mackie Road East Bentleigh are the best and we thank them for their continued support.

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Umpire's Corner Week 11, 2011

Thanks from Macca

I, Steve McCarthy would publically wish to thank all who helped celebrate my 600^th VAFA game last weekend. The Mazenod OCFC were sensational with their hospitality and the presentation made by their President Matt Johnson was much appreciated.

Big thanks also to Kevin King, Peter Fisher and Stuart Stockdale for their contributions to the day.

Special thanks to all the umpires (past and present) who travelled far and wide (especially Schwabbie from Rupertswood) to make it back to Mazenod and/or “The Nott” afterwards. To Sean Scully senior (and the rest of the Scully crew), your contribution will never be forgotten. Sean, you’re a legend. To running partners in Leah and Daggles thanks for being there and just doing what you always do.

The texts, emails and calls I received from club people was quite overwhelming as well. As umpires I suppose we fill such a small part of the footballing landscape, so it was refreshing to see that the job we do is appreciated. See you at 700. Macca.

Community Cup

A huge pat on the back for our very own Social Secretary, Jason Evans who once again engineered a tremendous Community Cup last Sunday. Thousands packed Elsternwick Park to see the mighty Rockdogs dispose of the Megahertz, and a huge sum of money was raised for Reclink.

The VAFAUA were happy to assist with the use of our rooms for the various bands performing on the day, and also for the after-match function. Special thanks to those that helped out on the day, in particular Pat Gallus who goal-umpired the game, and then volunteered in the bar afterwards. Great work guys!

Hooper Back In Town

It seems that Sacha Koffman is getting a little bit soft as the years progress. After being appointed to a two-umpire game at the Junction on Saturday, and obviously feeling a bit hesitant about the amount of running required (well he WAS partnered with Cam, so his fears were well grounded), Sach had a brainwave. Knowing that former VAFAUA (and now WAFL) umpire Michael Hooper was back in town for the weekend, Sacha pulled some strings and got Hoops appointed to the game. The big blonde man has lost none of his confidence, and as an unnamed Xavs player remarked, ‘Jesus….he likes to get involved, doesn’t he?’.

Frequent Flyer

Dingley to West Essendon to Glen Waverley. That’s further than some people go for a holiday but that’s what Brock “Melway” Fisher did last Saturday when he was picked up at 7:45 from his home in Dingley by The Coach for the long trek out to St Bernard’s for an Under 18 match at 9:20.

The VAFA taxi service continued when Woody picked him up after the match in his big old Ford for the journey to Mazenod for the afternoon. And no, he wasn’t heading out to Central Reserve to congratulate Macca on his  milestone, he was there for the double up, umpiring the Under 19s.

Intruders

Strange things sometimes happen on the football field. Every now and then a canine might make an unexpected appearance on the field, as happened briefly at Beauy on Saturday. But in what only can be described as “random”, to quote The Prez, a tyre just happened to roll across the surface of the Snake Pit during the tense third quarter on Saturday. Begs the question, what else might mysteriously surface on VAFA grounds?

All contributions gratefully received. Veteran whistleblowers would doubtless nominate pacifiers which annually appear late in September at EP after the announcement of Grand Final appointments.

Pre-Finals Dinner

It's that time of the year again - the famous VAFAUA Pre Finals Dinner.

Details as follows;

Monday 22 August

MCC Members Dining Room

6.30pm start

Cost : $60. Inclusive of a 3 course dinner, and free drinks from 6.30-7.00pm

This is a compulsory night for all umpires. You will have $60 deducted from your pay in the August pay run. For those umpires who really truly can't make it, your apology must reach Russell Davidson in writing by no later than Monday 1 August. Russell can be contacted at russell.davidson@haileybury.vic.edu.au otherwise the money will be deducted.

For those new to the VAFAUA, this is a great night. We celebrate another great year of VAFA footy by presenting a number of awards to both stalwarts and younger umpires for their achievements across the season. We also have a guest speaker and we are very close to announcing a high profile guest again this year. Stay tuned.

A new initiative this year will be the option of reserving tables. Please email Russell with your table (min 6, max 10) and yours will be reserved for the night. Get cracking on getting your table organized now!

Sponsors

Talking of our gear, we should all be wearing our off field polos branded by Boag’s. They make us look professional and part of a great team.

Don’t forget our longest standing major sponsor in Personal Mortgage Managers, you can contact Anthony Damen for your mortgage needs.

And as mentioned above Harris Family Butchers is still “meating” our needs.

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Umpire’s Corner Week 10, 2011

600 up for Macca

On the eve of his 600^th VAFA game as a field umpire, VAFAUA legend Steve McCarthy sat down with co-scribe Cam Davidson to chat about his career, and some of the more memorable moments he’s witnessed.

CD: Macca, first and foremost congratulations on a milestone few will ever achieve. How does it feel to reach the big 600?

 SMc: Well, I feel old of course, but I’m very proud of the fact that I’ve been able to run around for so long in such a great football competition.

CD: What was the first game you umpired and who were you with?

SMc: My first official VAFA game was in C grade between St.Kevins and Fawkner (now long gone) at the picturesque Righetti Oval all by myself. I say official because a few years earlier whilst umpiring with the VFL Reserve Grade I umpired about five or six VAFA reserve games. I don’t count those games, but I suppose that was my first exposure to the VAFA.

CD: Who’d be on your dream VAFAUA panel? You’re allowed three fieldies (plus an emergency), two goalies and two boundaries.

SMc: Too many great umpires to try and slot in, but here we go. Apologies in advance. The fieldies would be my great mate Anthony Damen, AD and I have shared many grand final days and usually forgot about the seriousness of the game when we umpired together. That was back in the days when players had time to have a sense of humour on the field. A rare thing these days.

Next would be Kevin (Chillie) Segota. Yes youngsters, he WAS a sensational field umpire years ago and could bounce the ball as high as the light towers. You’ve got to admire a bloke so dedicated to the VAFA. Hopefully a Life Member one day, would be well deserved. Third would be Peter Gersch who umpired four A Grade grand finals in a row (1993 to 1996). Silky smooth and just a dream to run with. Wished I could have been at that level. He retired too early and is doing a great job looking after my superannuation now. I’d be happy to sit on the bench and watch those three in action.

The boundary umpires would have to be Peter Teasdale who joined us later in his career but certainly made an impact, and in a blast from the past Graeme Bland for pure entertainment value. My goalies would be The Fireman , Bernie Hoare (who I’m sharing this week with) and that legend Mike Murray (sorry Chillie, you can’t have two spots). 

CD: What’s your funniest footballing story?

SMc: Too many to recall, but quite a few involved AD. Peter Wiseman and Ronny Lippold who would always manage to make a crack that would leave you shaking your head. Plenty of funny things still happen on the field. Just used to love some of the comments from the crowd in particular the boys in the far pocket at St.Bernards, and the old blokes who used to gather on the far wing at Ormond. 

CD: You’re now the Developmental Coach - do you view things differently now that you’re on the ‘other side of the fence’?

SMc: I just see it as a way of putting something back into this great game that has given me so much. Very satisfying to see recent members of the Development Squad running around at the VFL level. I will claim Michael Hooper (now in WA), Dan Lawlor and Jarryd Barry when they make their AFL debuts. Particularly pleasing last year for myself and my trusty assistants Darren Dalgleish and Leah Gallagher to see JB appointed to the Premier B grand final.

CD: What’s been the biggest change in amateur umpiring since you’ve been involved?

SMc: I suppose we’ve just evolved with the game. One umpire to three is a major change, but we also have a much more professional approach to the coaching of all disciplines of umpiring.

CD: Best umpire you’ve seen?

SMc: Best to leave that alone.

CD: Worst umpire you’ve seen?

SMc: Well, I saw you umpire a very early under 19 game a couple of years ago Cam, and I don’t think your morning coffee had kicked in.

CD: Where’s your favourite place to buy meat?

SMc: That would be Harris Family Butchers of 73 Mackie Road East Bentleigh. Ca-ching!

CD: How many more games left in those beautifully tanned legs of yours?

SMc: Taking it one week and one Sunday morning groan at a time. 

CD: Macca you’re a superstar. Thanks for your time!!

SMc: Thanks Cam, it’s great to have the column back this week (sorry, readers). Don’t forget to tune into 88.3 Southern FM at 9:30 in the morning as I chat with the Prez Luke Holmes. I’m sure I’ll be a little croaky. I can’t sign-off without mentioning the great support of my family. Cheryl and the kids have been used to my absence on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for ever. Just glad I can stay involved in something I love with them behind me. Couldn’t be happier knowing that my son is playing in the best footy competition in Melbourne.

Lost Property

Has anyone seen Stokesy’s gear?  Seems to have been “misplaced” at a game recently. No truth in the rumour that he lost it on purpose so he could get a bigger size. Anyway, he’s managed to survive the last few games with some borrowed gear.

Sponsors

Talking of our gear, we should all be wearing our off field polos branded by Boag’s. They make us look professional and part of a great team.

Don’t forget our longest standing major sponsor in Personal Mortgage Managers, you can contact Anthony Damen for your mortgage needs.

And as mentioned above Harris Family Butchers is still “meating” our needs.

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Umpire’s Corner Week 8, 2011

Big Milestone For Droppy

This week marks the 200^th game for Premier Section Grand Final Umpire, Grant Wardrop. Cam spent a few minutes with the great man to reflect on his footballing journey.

1/ Most memorable VAFAUA game and why? 

The 2006 C Grade Grand Final between Ajax and St Bedes would definitely be my most memorable game. They packed them in 20 deep around Trevor Barker Oval and St Bedes came from 8 goals down midway through the 2nd qtr to win by 1 point. I've never umpired in a game where the noise was so loud you couldn't even hear the final siren. Doing last years A Grade grand final was personally very memorable for the whole experience but the actual game didn't come close to 2006.

 2/ What would your “dream VAFAUA” panel be? 

I think it would have to be a Young AD, Rusty Davidson along with Chillie and Dom in the goals. In this dream would I have to have Boundary Umpires!! Ok, then James Scully and Santo Caruso running the lines.

3/ Most respected person in football? 

In umpiring ranks I would have to say a tie between Gibbo and AD but we are surrounded by a lot of quality people which makes our association so strong. I respect a lot of people around the ammo ranks but will stop short at naming names. But within the AFL I would have to say Kevin Sheedy even though I may be accused of being a one eyed Essendon supporter. I think his passion for the game is second to none.

Ooops……massive, massive apology

Last week we waxed lyrical about our fundraising efforts, and gave credit to a number of people for helping out. What we didn’t do was acknowledge our sponsor, Harris Family Butchers (73 Mackie Rd, East Bentleigh) for supplying 1000 sausages and a meat tray for the raffle. The $1300 we raised wouldn’t have happened without them!!

They just don’t learn…..

Even though it was the most obvious coaching directive of all time, one goal umpire still didn't get the message. At Beauy on Saturday, Tom Moloney didn't notice Damien Anthony's all clear (was there one?) and decided to take a stroll out to the 45 metre arc while play was going on around him. Tom, of course was the umpire at the other end at Old Ivanhoe when Charlie went for his saunter. And guess what, same field umpire.

Message to the selectors: please keep putting D Anthony and T Moloney together in order to brighten up a dull afternoon at the footy.

Each Way Bet

Unfortunately Big Harry Stamos chose the wrong ground to test out the new state of the art communication devices. He was at the Trott where Chillie and Vinnie were the first guinea pigs. There was no comment from the Big H on how the experiment went but Chillie was rapt that he was able to switch channels and hear all Quaddie legs from Caulfield.

360 Degrees

Dylan Marshall had a novel way of preparing for his match at Old Brighton. While Joey Hartwig and the boundary umpires did their warm up, Dylan got out his protractor, compass, theodolite and can of white spray paint to mark the centre circles which had all but disappeared after the Ressies.

The boy from Sale did a pretty good job but maybe he should have used the spray paint on the No Standing sign near where he parked his car for the afternoon.

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Umpire’s Corner Week 7, 2011

One for the highlights reel.....

Now we don’t want to give away too much, but word on the street is that the audio-visual presentation at this year’s Pre-Finals Dinner should involve a couple of corkers from two of our esteemed goalies. Firstly Dom Napoli managed to get himself a little ‘caught up’ at Old Carey a couple of weeks back. Dom became entangled in the netting behind the goals while attempting a signal, much to the mirth of all at the ground.

One for the highlights reel (2)....

In the same round, Charlie Lear became particularly aggrieved at the lack of a signal from his much younger partner (whose name shall remain....nameless). Charlie can be seen on the Dartfish footage sprinting (well....sort of) to the middle of the ground to make his case heard by umpire Damien Anthony. Perhaps the funniest part of the footage is when Charlie realises that Old Ivanhoe are moving the ball back up the ground, and has to turn around and sprint (again....sort of) back to his rightful position. As a result, goalies coach Big Harry Stamos has decreed that all goal umpires must remain behind the goals at all time, which we think is the most obvious coaching directive in history.

One for the highlights reel (3)....

The Prez himself highlighting on the Channel 31 coverage of Umpire Appreciation Day at Williamstown a couple of weeks back with a beautifully executed pirouette around a player. We’re sure he’ll edit himself out.

Bunnings Boys

A big thank-you from the Prez Luke Holmes who reports that the Bunnings BBQ Fundraiser last Sunday at Mentone netted us a profit of $1300. Big thanks to the crew who helped out on the day! Special mentions go to Brett Morton for his amazing work in organising the day and Clive “Skip” Shipley for working from 10am-4pm after a couple of late withdrawals. Thanks Morts! Thanks Skip! To the others who helped out in Jason Evans, Russell Davidson, Joel Smith, Andrew Hartnett, Dave Anselmi, Zoe, Cam Davidson, Nick Fennessy, and Mark Rogers.

Trivia Night

Tables are selling fast for the Trivia Night (hosted by Head Coach Tony Hales) next Saturday June 4^th. The Napoli clan have once again booked a few tables and are confident of victory, but Evo has put together a crack squad of the most sophisticated, talented and intellectual members of the VAFAUA family. No idea how Joey Hartwig has made the table, but there might be a question on body-building or Justin Beiber for him to answer!

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Umpire’s Corner Week 6, 2011

Thanks from Daggles

Darren Dalgleish would like to thank all at Mazenod Old Collegians Football Club for not only their hospitality and good wishes as he celebrated his 300^th VAFA game last weekend, but for the specially engraved medallion he was presented with to mark the occasion.  Thanks also to Old Camberwell and to the many umpires who arrived at the Central Reserve aftermatch to share in the festivities.

The VAFAUA coaching panel would also like to acknowledge the great development work Daggles has done with many of our young umpires over the last few years.  His coaching has seen a number of them progress to VFL ranks.  Well done Daggles and keep up the good work.

Match preparation

We always tell our young umpires when starting out that match preparation is important. This includes making sure your bag is packed and you have everything you need.

Well it would appear that one of the older brigade didn’t follow that rule a couple of weeks back. Arriving at his game (on the other side of town) he popped the boot of his car only to realize that his umpiring bag was in the boot of the other family car at home. He managed to scrape a few things together like the new white polo he was wearing, along with shorts and socks and a lame whistle from the home club to get him by. No names, Shane, but a double-check on Saturday morning is the thing to do!

Scuba Stokesy and The New Fireman?

We all know that the temperature dropped to some very uncomfortable levels last weekend. In the game at Old Brighton (one of the coldest grounds in football), goal umpires Ray Stokes and Tom Maloney went to some very unusual lengths to stay warm. Stokesy donned a full length wetsuit under his gear, while Tommy went the other way with some very stylish fire retardant undergarments. Preparing for all eventualities were we boys??

The boy can play!

In the same game at Brighton, co-scribe Cam Davidson got a little bit sick of the extremely long quarters. When the footy wound up on the other side of South Road (the gale force wind didn't help) after a behind, Big Cam called for the spare ball to be delivered onto the ground. The interchange steward promptly threw the ball to Cam who let fly with a centimetre perfect drop punt from 65 metres out, hitting the Marcellin full back on the chest. In the ensuing quarter and a half the big man fielded offers from several AFL clubs, before deciding to stick with the whistle blowing (for now!)

Apology to Stubbsy!

It seems Alan Stubbs (or rather his far better half Ana) took a little offence to the insinuations printed a couple of weeks ago, namely that he'd been given the boot as Secretary. We here at Umpires Corner would like to clarify that Stubbsy voluntarily stepped down from his post as the longest serving "letters man" in VAFAUA history. Cam would like to point out that while he wrote the offending piece, Macca as the more senior Scribe should have vetted it and made the necessary changes. Play on!

Always looking out for the sponsors!

One of our umpires, had to go up to a club official to get that official to have a word to the two boys having a beer before the senior game last Sunday. The umpire made it clear that the two lads, were probably new to the VAFA and didn't know the rules regarding alcohol. The umpire also pointed out that the beer that they were drinking was not the VAFAUA approved Boags, but some other cheap knock off. The umpire may or may not have been our very own Social Secretary, Mr Jason "Evolution" Evans.

We hope that Evo shows similar diligence when he detects anyone in the amateur family not organising their home loans through Personal Mortgage Managers or when they purchase their meat from anywhere but the best, Harris Family Butchers (73 Mackie Rd, East Bentleigh).

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Umpire’s Corner Week 5, 2011

300 up – at last!

Today we see VAFA umpiring stalwart Darren “Daggles” Dalgleish stroll out in his 300^th VAFA game.

Daggles comes from “good stock” with his dad Don being a VFL umpire of some note.

He commenced his umpiring with the Waverley Juniors in 1981 where he umpired 55 games before he went to have a crack at the VFL/AFL in 1984.  After 105 games at various levels, a fellow umpire he’d met at the VFL by the name of Kevin “Chillie” Segota suggested he come down to the VAFA because it’s great.  Daggles says that Chillie certainly was right as he’s loved his time here and has made some lifelong friends.  He says that there’s too many to mention but “he loves youse all”.

He particularly would like to give big thanks to Macca, Chillie, Leah, Shaggers, Riddy, Belly, Rusty, Digger, JT, Ronnie, Woody, Hoarey, Chuck, Benny, Richie, Tubby and of course the late and great Agate. (Lots of nicknames there, but most of the VAFA umpiring world knows who we mean.

Statistically his VAFA career is as follows:

VAFAUA (mark one) 1989 to 1998 ten years.

Highlights : 1989 B grade reserve GF with Robert Bell,
                  1990 C grade GF with Steve McCarthy,
                  1991 B grade GF with Mark Bushfield & Leah Gallagher on the boundary,
                  1992 A grade reserve GF with Mark Jenkins,
                  First A grade game with Chillie, Ormond V Collegians at Ormond.
 

After an eight year break:

VAFAUA (mark two) 2007 to present

Love the coaching & mentoring roll with Macca & Leah, seeing the young & not so young reaching their umpiring goals.

 
Some of the great amateur players seen over the years: Bruno Conti, Phil Kingston, Gary Norton, Russell Barnes & Big Chisel from St. Bernards.

Well done Daggles and we’re sure quite a few of the umpiring fraternity will celebrate with you tonight as we enjoy the always fantastic hospitality of the Mazenod Old Collegians Football Club out at Central Reserve.

Another milestone

After a four year break, goal umpire Rob Parry has re-joined us and it’s just in time to celebrate his 200^th game. Well done Rob, and it’s great to have you back.

Another return

Well liked former field umpire Ash Hoogendyk returned from Perth for the weekend and a match was kindly provided by Benny for Ash to run in alongside Jeremy Heffernan. One of the last times they ran together was on the MCG in a curtain raiser some years ago (the memory obviously hasn't faded). Neither got sick of telling anybody on Saturday (that would listen) either.

Both Ash & JH had a great morning and Ash is keen to come back and run with another old buddy – Stokesy, on his next visit east. He was advised though that his fitness would need to improve to cover 75% of the game with Stokesy. Harsh!

Sponsors

As well  as Boag’s who of course have proudly “branded” us this year, we’d just like another  quick plug for a couple of our other sponsors.

Long standing major sponsor in Personal Mortgage Managers (contact Anthony Damen for your mortgage needs) is still with us.

As we mentioned last week, our newest sponsor is Harris Family Butchers of 73 Mackie Road East Bentleigh. You can sample their products at one of our regular BBQs, or be the very lucky recipient of a meat tray in our monthly members’ draw.

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Umpire’s Corner Week 4, 2011

Milestone

Congratulations to goal umpire (& that man behind the bar) Brett Morton who waves the flags in his 50^th VAFA game this week. Brett joined us a couple of years ago when his son Nathan began to run the boundary. As Brett was driving Nathan to his games anyway, he thought he may as well get involved and see if he could wave the flags. He’s now part of the furniture and very involved in the Umpires Association. To make it more of a family affair, youngest son Jarryd started running the boundary last year. Brett’s a regular to Premier B and there’s a bit of a chance we could see him in Premier this week. Well done Brett.

Thank you

Tony Hope would like to thank the Glen Eira Football Club for their hospitality in hosting his 50^th VAFA game last weekend. Special thanks to Anthony Simpson, his partner on the day for organising dinner and drinks.

Member of the Month

Congratulations to the media superstar Kit Harvey for being named our second ‘Member of the Month’ for being a generally cracking bloke. Kit is always pretty pumped about training, and is renowned for his infectious nature. Special mention must also go to our inaugural member of the month, Paul Jones who keeps us all hydrated with his ‘Jonesy Juice’. Word on the street is that you should avoid the booze bus on North Road if you sample a little too much of the ‘magic cordial’

As Big As The Aussie Millions.......almost

A record was set last Thursday night for the most amount of players in the weekly VAFAUA poker tournament. Twenty-two hopefuls sat down (around three tables) and battled it out in the long-running ‘Poker Premiership’. Anthony Simpson was the lucky winner (I use the word “lucky” because he knocked me out.....Cam) and scored himself some very healthy points. Anyone interested in competing in the tournament should speak to AD, Stokesy or Cam after Thursday training.

Does this bloke ever sleep????

Special mention must go to our wonderful, inspiring, fantastic and good looking Head Coach, Tony Hales for his commitment to the cause (Description provided by the younger Scribe). ‘Rowdy’ revealed to us last week that he spent the Easter weekend watching all Premier, Premier B and Premier C games on Dartfish. All umpires are now on notice- even if there’s not an observer or coach at your game, your every move might still be seen! Big Brother is watching!!!

I’ll tell you what......How good are Harris Family Butchers (73 Mackie Road, East Bentleigh)

After the shortest Association meeting in the history of the VAFAUA (getting rid of Stubbsy as Secretary may have something to do with it), we were treated to one of the finest barbeques in the history of mankind. Stokesy and Daggles did us proud with a feast fit for kings (and queens) but it was the sheer quality of the meat that had us all coming back for more. Any of our members in the area should support the people who support us!! Thanks guys!!

Bounce-off

Some umpires feeling the pressure for spots in the top divisions has resulted in the return of the bounce. In Round 3, Leigh Fisher, Brent Woodhead, Andrew Heffernan, Merv Monty, Damien Anthony, Jeff Mann and even Reserves umpire Dean Tolongs all were bouncing in the centre. Which begs the question, why didn't the best two bouncers, the two Big Daves have a go on one of the best surfaces in the comp, the Junction?

Change room?

Sacha Koffman who is suffering a mild case of Glandular Fever umpired with Oliver Bell in Ollie's first senior match at St Mary's/Salesian last Saturday and at half time when the umpires tried to enter the rooms there was a mother changing a baby's nappy and when finished left to go about her business, unfortunately the umpires could still not enter the umpires rooms due to the very strong lingering odour!!

 
Well the VAFA do promote family football...

Golf Day

Well done to Chillie Segota for organising a very successful day at Amstel Golf Course last Sunday. Four teams of four playing Ambrose saw Stubbsy’s team just getting across the line from Stokesy’s. Bad luck to former umpire Peter Angelis who was pipped on both longest drive holes, by Greg Rolfe on the 2^nd and AD on the 17^th. Great to have club representation with Robbo and The Cowboy joining us from Old Scotch.

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Umpire’s Corner Week 3, 2011

Games of Hope

This Saturday sees Tony Hope clock up his 50^th VAFA game. Highlights for the VAFA include umpiring the D4 Reserve Grand Final in 2009 & the U18-2 Grand Final in 2010. Tony has  umpired over 300 senior games for the QAFL and is currently an umpires coach with the Yarra Juniors. We suppose 50 games means 50 appearances at the poker table as well. Not sure which he is better at? Tony Hope would like to thank the VAFA community for a very enjoyable 50 matches, and hopes (sorry) there are many more to come.

Another milestone

"Twenty years is a long time to be involved with any organisation.  We at the VAFAUA have quite a  handful of 20 year veterans, be they umpires or administrators.

Bob Taylor is one who chalks up 20 years service as an observer this season.

Bob walked into Elsternwick Park in 1992 to run into Brian Goodman, after being told the goal umpires actually trained, Bob promptly retired as an umpire and commenced observing.  Many umpires have come and gone in those 20 years but Bob remembers his first encounter and that was Mark Gibson (still going strong in 2011).

Over the years Bob became active behind the scenes with the monthly BBQ's, seeing a need for umpires to have something more substantial he introduced a weekly soup kitchen which is the for runner of today's "milk bar”.

All at the VAFAUA would like to acknowledge and thank Bob for all his efforts over the years. Sometimes we tend to forget the hard work done by our off-field members and Bob’s just one of many who contributes to the development of many a young umpire within our ranks.

Keep up the great work!

Warm-down run

A couple of Sundays ago we saw a few of our umpires pound the pavement for charity. The Run for the Kids was the perfect Sunday stroll for a few of the guys to run out the sore spots. Cam Davidson, Frankie Palermo, Joel Smith, Tim Sutcliffe and Tom Windlow represented us with honour out there. And yes, that was Tommy’s head promoting the event in the paper a few days before. Well done guys, hope you enjoyed the rest over Easter and bounce back into it this week.

Sponsors

As well  as Boag’s who of course have proudly “branded” us this year, we’d just like a quick plug for a couple of our other sponsors.

Long standing major sponsor in Personal Mortgage Managers (contact Anthony Damen for your mortgage needs) is still with us.

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, our newest sponsor is Harris Family Butchers of 73 Mackie Road East Bentleigh. You can sample their products at one of our regular BBQs.

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Umpire’s Corner Week 2, 2011

It’s on (so congratulations)!!

Opening Round has come and gone, and amateur footy once again reigns supreme across Melbourne on Saturday afternoons. Down at the VAFAUA there were the usual moans from old blokes who keep swearing ‘this is my last year’, some great performances from the experienced umpires, and some very encouraging debuts across all sections.

Chuck obviously has worked his magic and got the troops to a great level of fitness, although our physio Raj is wondering about the record numbers waiting to jump on his table. We’re obviously pushing our bodies hard. The results will be out there on  a Saturday afternoon.

Melbourne turned on its best weather for the day, well, until about 4:30 anyway, when the heavens opened. Don’t think a lot of time-on was blown in the last few minutes of most games.

In particular, we congratulate Andrew Heffernan (F), Rebecca Brown (G) and Matt Dervan (G) for their respective promotions into Premier. To reach the top echelon is no mean feat, and we have no doubt there’ll be plenty of new faces wearing the blue and white at grounds like Toorak Park, The Trott and Brindisi Street in 2011. No doubt this will be a year of opportunity.

We’d also like to congratulate those umpires who graced VAFA grounds for the first time. You’ve joined a sensational competition in the VAFA which just so happens to have the best Umpires Association in Australia (OK, I suppose we’re a bit biased.)

Looking good

Quite a few comments last weekend in relation to how well decked out our umpires were “off field”. The new polo shirts adorned with the sponsors logo (Boag’s Draught) were quite eye-catching giving us a professional look as we arrived at games and attended the after match functions.

Well done to our fantastic President Luke Holmes for his organization and promotion of this great initiative. 

He said what now?

Quote of the week time, and this week it’s a no-brainer from esteemed boundary umpires coach, Bob Sebbens who we suspect will feature prominently in Umpire’s Corner this year. During a break at the Uni v De La game, Bob was congratulated on his efforts in recruiting plenty of new boundary riders. His response? “Yeah it’s been fantastic to see so many people come out of the closet”.

We think you meant woodwork, Bobby!  (Not that there’s anything wrong it!)

Rowdy’s Rule of the week - Advantage

Not really a rule, but more of an interpretation of Rule 17.3 in the Laws of Australian Football. This year when a free kick is paid, it becomes the player’s decision rather than the umpire to decide if they will take the advantage and play on. If play is continuous and the players do not pause, but continue to keep moving when the umpire blows the whistle, then the umpire will call play on. If the player then has a skill error, the ball will not be recalled as that was a risk the player was taking.

This should be an interesting one to monitor this year.

If you have any requests for rules to be highlighted that may be causing you confusion, feel free to contact us through the VAFA.

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Umpire’s Corner Week 1, 2011

Welcome back!

Great to be back with a new season and a new look column.

Macca: Just like to start off by acknowledging my former co-scribe Leah Gallagher after many years holding the poison pen with this column she has decided to have a well-earned break. Thanks Leah for everything over those years – you will be missed. I’d like to welcome Leah’s replacement Cam Davidson to the chair. I have no doubt we will see a quirkier side of the umpiring world from Big Cam’s point of view.

Cam: Thanks Macca, great to be on board. And I must start off by saying congratulations to yourself for your amazing efforts in completing the Oxfam Trailwalker Challenge last weekend for the fourth time. Macca's team finished the 100km walk in a tick over 25 hours, which is a phenomenal effort. Not surprisingly, Macca wasn't running around last weekend, but will be out this Saturday to officiate in yet another VAFA game. Go Macca!

Changes at the top.

We’d like to welcome a couple of new coaches to the ranks as well. Robert Sebbens as the new boundary umpires’ coach and Harry Stamos as the goal umpire’s coach.

Pre-Season Review

Plenty of news coming out of Elsternwick Park in the early stages of pre-season. We have dozens of new members (thanks largely to the Bobby Sebbens Recruitment Drive), some returning faces (Daniel Silfo, David Lepair and Patrick Gallus amongst others), and a couple of positional changes (Brendan Corcoran and Dave McNamara move to the centre of the field).

Under the direction of the least likely training supervisor in history (Seriously? Chuck? The bloke hasn’t done a pre-season in twenty years!), the Christmas kilos are slowly being shed and the preparations for 2011 are almost complete. Enough of the pretend stuff, let’s get into it!

Vale

On a serious note we’d like to pass on our condolences to Past President Rob Mayston and also goal umpire Craig Arnol, who both lost their mothers since the end of last season.

We also recently lost Sam Kahn, a popular goal umpire in the 80s and 90s.

All umpires will be wearing black armbands this weekend.

A Snag, Beer and Mortgage From Our Sponsors …

The VAFAUA is proud to announce that along with our ongoing association with major sponsors Orca and Personal Mortgage Managers, that a couple of new sponsors have come on board. Boags have kindly agreed to assist us with match day polo shirts (minus the logo for those underage umps!), and there will be further announcements to come regarding their involvement. Finally, the good folk at Harris Family Butchers (73 Mackie Rd, East Bentleigh) have done a fantastic job in providing us with meat for our regular BBQs.

Make sure you enjoy plenty of our sponsors’ products during the year (although with Harry Stamos rumoured to be introducing skin-fold tests for the goalies, it might be a wise idea to enjoy them in moderation!).

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