WA Football Umpiring Regional Roadshow

The WA Football Umpiring Team has returned from a South West Umpiring Roadshow confident the region can produce quality officials over the next decade.

The tour took in Australind, Bunbury, Manjimup, and Busselton.

The team visited schools and umpire clubs across the South West region, delivering umpire education and practical skills sessions to promote umpiring as a rewarding and accessible pathway in football for students.

AFL Boundary Umpire Jordan Russell joined as a special guest, assisting with program delivery and sharing his experience at the elite level.

Regional Football Specialist for South-West Nathan Douch declared the event a resounding success.

“Having the WA Football Umpiring team and Jordan in the South West for the week was fantastic,” Douch said.

“As a region, we are working really hard to provide our Junior and Senior umpires with the tools and upskilling opportunities to continue to grow as umpires and visits such as these really help with achieving this vision.

“From a recruitment perspective, the hands-on introduction that our schools received across the week will hopefully see several students take up umpiring over the coming years and continue to build on our already strong base of junior umpires.”

As part of the initiative, the team also joined the South West Football League umpires at their training sessions, providing valuable coaching support.

The team also attended a female junior football game, offering a hands-on umpire coaching experience for local umpire coaches.

AFL Boundary and Goal Umpires also attended South West Football League matches, providing valuable match-day feedback and coaching to local umpires, helping to support their ongoing development.

The roadshow culminated in a highlight moment for six junior umpires, who were invited to the AFL match between North Melbourne and West Coas.t

The young umpires had the chance to meet the officiating AFL umpires and step onto Hands Oval before the game, a memorable experience that capped off an inspiring week.