Born in Brisbane and raised in Sydney, Dan Field-Read’s sporting journey began at five years old, playing rugby union.
But you won’t see him dashing up the wing for the Waratahs next season – he’ll be boundary umpiring at the SCG, following his recent appointment to the AFL Senior Umpire list.
It’s been a somewhat meteoric rise for the 21-year-old. Field-Read didn’t have anything to do with Australian football until he was in high school, and 2015 will be just his fourth season as a boundary umpire.
Asked about his quick rise up the umpiring ranks, Field-Read credits AFL NSW/ACT’s development programs for giving him the motivation and aspiration to succeed. The programs expose up and coming umpires to the elite training culture of AFL umpires, instilling an increased focus on fitness, skill refinement and overall professionalism.
He may be amongst the top handful of boundary umpires in the country at present, but early on in life, it looked as if Field-Read was set for a different sporting career entirely.
Having split his childhood between Queensland and New South Wales - two states still learning to embrace Australian football - its no surprise Field-Read was drawn to Rugby as a youngster.
But at the age of twelve, after seven years with the game, a change of scenery was needed.
“Being a smaller kid I was struggling to play rugby with some of the boys at age twelve weighing over seventy kilos,” Field-Read said.
“My mum’s partner at the time had been a St. Kilda member for over thirty years and suggested that I give [AFL] a go.
“I gave it a go, loved it, and never looked back.”
Playing for the Glebe Greyhounds, based in Sydney’s Inner-West, in 2005, a 13-year-old Field-Read – like so many others – was drawn to umpiring the following season by the allure of extra pocket money. But the youngster proved better with whistle in hand than Sherrin, and soon enough a choice had to be made.
“As I got to about age sixteen, I had to make a choice between playing and umpiring,” Field-Read remembers. Feeling he had a better chance of ‘making it’ as an umpire, he went the way of the whistle.
“From that point, the motivation has been to make it to the AFL.”
In 2009, in just his fourth season, Field-Read was promoted to the AFL Sydney list. After umpiring U18s football for a season, he rose up the ranks again, making his Premier Division debut in 2010.
He finished high school the same year, and took 2011 off to travel the world. Returning in the 2012 pre-season however, Field-Read received a career-changing tap on the shoulder from none other than long-time AFL boundary umpire Michael Saunders.
“He asked whether I’d considered boundary umpiring, noting that I’d always been quite a natural runner, and that if I wanted to make it to the AFL that there was going to be a very real opportunity,” Field-Read said.
His AFL umpiring path crystallised, Field-Read took his opportunity with both hands, debuting in NEAFL that year and going on to boundary umpire three consecutive NEAFL grand finals.
After pushing himself to the limits to get to the AFL, Field-Read has arrived. And at just 21, he no doubt has a long and successful career ahead of him.
Last Modified on 19/12/2014 11:18
