News
WRFL Rises From the Ashes
21 Apr 10
“Umpires in my view...they need to be given as much support as possible to make sure they can actually recruit, train and retain umpires”, stated Bill Baarini, newly appointed President of the Western Region Football League (WRFL) when outlining the future for the league and its umpires following a turbulent few years that came to a head in mid 2009.
Terry O’Donnell of the WRFL umpires association said that between 2006 and 2009 “...the football manager appointed at the time had done no recruiting”, which led to inexperienced juniors being fast tracked to the senior divisions to fill the void when the experienced umpires retired.
Whilst the immediate effect was felt within the WRFL umpires ranks, Terry points out that the situation had reached the stage where Kevin Mitchell, State Director of Umpiring at AFL Victoria commented that the WRFL umpires had gone from being a reliable source of talent to one where little or no prospects were coming through.
Despite Terry having previous discussions with the WRFL prior to the start of the 2009 season about the current football manager “not being re-appointed, he was re-appointed...we got into a situation halfway through the year where we decided enough was enough and our members decided to go out on strike.”
As a result, no WRFL senior or reserves matches were played on Saturday 4 July 2009.
Following discussions between the clubs, the umpires and the (then) President and CEO of the WRFL, the umpires’ advisor (football manager) resigned.
Immediately, the landscape changed.
Bob Tregear was appointed the new CEO of the WRFL in February 2010 with Bill Baarini already in his post as the new President since December 2009.
In addition to these appointments there have been exciting new initiatives and plans developed and put in place which augurs well for the future of the WRFL and its umpires.
When asked recently about the fall out of last years events Bill Baarini stated, “When relationships break down, negativity creeps in fairly quickly but I think the tide has turned. Every crisis creates an opportunity and whilst last year was certainly a challenge, I must say that despite all the angst that went with the strike the opportunity gave the people the chance to think about the importance of umpires to the game, the importance of respect, understanding and relationships.”
With the positional changes in place at Board level, the association, with support from the WRFL, set about putting in place changes that would positively affect on-field conditions.
Initially, the league, clubs and umpires established a forum which would provide the umpires with a place to be heard. The forum is made up of two representatives from the umpires association, two from the league and two from the clubs. Any issues that arise are brought before the forum.
One of the most important and immediate issues for the forum to manage was the appointment of a new Umpires Advisor. This was a change from previous years.
As Terry O’Donnell indicated, “the forum then decided to put somebody from the umpires association on the selection committee for the new advisor. For the first time we had an input...”
The Umpires Advisor role was given to Shane Carland, an umpire with significant experience within the WRFL; Shane had previously received an ‘Umpire of the Decade’ award.
Consultation and communication had come to the fore as two of the key points for the WRFL and its umpires in re-establishing itself as a force within the suburban football environment.
Bill Baarini points out that the forum wasn’t confined to umpire issues but also “about structural issues around the constitution, the rights and responsibilities of member clubs...issues around the umpires association as being a representative body of the umpires. There wasn’t the proper vehicle for them to be heard, consulted with and decisions being made collectively.”
The forum was a great starting point for all involved. Everyone could move forward with confidence in establishing recruitment and retention strategies for umpires as well as providing opportunities for clubs to discuss positives and provide constructive criticism; all with the agreed aim of enhancing the reputation of the league, its clubs and its umpires.
With Bob Tregear and Bill Baarini’s input, a new Board has been formed consisting of past Presidents from clubs within the WRFL, lawyers, past politicians and sports administrators from other sports.
“We got a real dynamic across the board. In my view probably second to none across suburban leagues”, Bill Baarini proudly declares.
With the positional changes made and the new Board established, the majority of the focus in the off season for the umpires association was to structure a program that would recruit youngsters from the western district and then nurture and develop them into to elite umpires.
The umpires association already had an established Academy at MacKillop Regional College in Werribee which in 2009 started with 14 students expressing an interest and finished the year with 26 involved in the program. This was seen as a significantly low figure and possibly a reflection on the negativity within the community towards the league and its umpires.
Changes were required to increase the intake of students from 2010 onwards.
“The first thing we did... we formed a recruitment committee made up of six people and we looked at the whole various aspects of recruiting. One of the things we got permission from the Academy to do was (to) incorporate all schools in the area to go to the Academy at MacKillop”, Terry O’Donnell stated.
With the assistance and presence of AFL umpires, the first information night in March 2010 saw close to 40 students express an interest in the Academy. Based on the 2009 experience, it is anticipated that close to 100 students will become involved in the Academy by year’s end.
In 2009 three of the 26 students officiated in a Grand Final in their first year of umpiring: a great incentive for the students starting out in 2010 and a great reward for three young people in 2009 who probably hadn’t given such a thing a passing thought 12 months earlier.
The program within the Academy runs one night a week from March until August and not only provides the students with the knowledge and skills to undertake umpiring at senior level but teaches leadership skills.
An unexpected bonus of branching out into the schools within the community has been the discovery that the Victorian Football League (VFL) has been running umpiring courses which provides a group who already have an interest in umpiring the opportunity to further develop their skills.
The WRFL umpires association now has the capability to work with the VFL in establishing a program that will benefit both leagues through the development of young umpires.
Outside of the MacKillop Academy, the association has been the able to initiate a relationship with the Maribyrnong College, formerly Maribyrnong Secondary School. The College is very much sports focussed with its motto being ‘Pride in Sporting Excellence’.
Terry O’Donnell notes there are “900 students at the school and 300 of them are called elite. We went to the school and we said to them we’d like to put in an umpiring academy and they’ve agreed. They run an AFL football academy at Whitten Oval on a Tuesday at which Mitch Hahn from Footscray and a couple of the boys conduct.”
The strategy is to gain access to the approximate 600 students at the Academy who are not categorised as elite in a particular sport. Interested students attending the College will be ‘fast tracked’ through a structured program designed to develop well credentialed umpires.
To assist in this program, ex-AFL umpire Andrew Coates has been appointed the Director of Umpiring at Maribyrnong College.
As Terry proudly states in relation to the Academies, they are now the “only league with two.”
There is no doubt that the events of the last three years and in particular those that occurred in July 2009 took their toll on individuals, clubs, the umpires association and the league.
However, it is obvious to an outsider looking in for the first time that the consultation and communication avenues for umpires have improved dramatically in such a short timeframe. Further, the support for umpires in the WRFL appear to be of an extremely high standard when you listen to people such as Terry O’Donnell and Bill Baarini talk with pride about the Academies and the new Board; achievements already made between seasons.
Perhaps Bill summed it up best recently when he stated “Without umpires the game just simply can’t be played.”
With that attitude being displayed openly, the future of the WRFL and its umpires is in good hands: people such as Kevin Mitchell at AFL Victoria can feel safe in the knowledge that everything is being done to ensure the WRFL once again becomes a constant and reliable source for future elite umpires.
Last Modified on 23/04/2010 20:08