Prior to the commencement of this year's AFLBJ Football Season, James had set himself a number of personal goals to be achieve this year, including
- Umpiring at 16's Div 1 level,
- To be selected to umpire at the Queensland School Sport U15 Championships, to be held at Maroochydore during May 2008,
- To be appointed to umpire the Grand Final of the Queensland School Sport U15 Championships.
- To be selected as part of the Queensland Team and umpire at the Australian School Sport Championships, to be held in Melbourne during July
James worked hard on his fitness during pre-season training and the early weeks of the AFLBJ season, and was very excited when hearing of his selection as an umpire to participate at the Queensland School Sport U15 Championship. He was seeing reward for his hard work, effort and umpiring skills.
James umpired well during the Queensland Championship and was again pleased to hear that he was selected as 1 of the 2 umpires to officiate the QLD Championship Grand Final. Many players and parents had been commenting, during the Championship, about the high standard that all the games were being umpired at, so to gain selection to umpire the Grand Final was a real compliment.
During the Closing Ceremony, the Queensland Team was announced and James was named with the QLD Team to travel to Melbourne for the 2008 SCHOOL SPORT AUSTRALIA NATIONAL AFL CHAMPIONSHIPS, hosted in Melbourne 19 - 26 July. This year's Championship marked the 150 Years Celebration of the commencement of Australian Football.
James has recently returned from participating at the 2008 SCHOOL SPORT AUSTRALIA NATIONAL AFL CHAMPIONSHIPS. He enjoyed the opportunity to umpire games which involved the Queensland Team as James had also trained with the players prior to the National Championship. The standard of football played at this Championship was as good as any level of football he has been involved with.
James had not rated himself a strong chance of getting the Grand Final appointment, at the National Championship, knowing that the standard of umpiring at this national level is extremely high. James umpired all of his games exceptionally and was equal to that of the interstate umpires and was given the prestigious appointment to officiate the National Championship Grand Final, between Victoria Metro & Western Australia.
This seemed to be his greatest achievement, however following the conclusion of the championship James was named a member of the 2008 All Australian Team, (At every National Championships an All Australian Team is selected to identify the elite players and umpire) and was awarded the A.S. McLean Medal for his outstanding achievements.
This medal is awarded to the most outstanding umpire (field, boundary or goal) who officiates in the Championship. For the first time in the Championship's history, every game was fully officiated (field, boundary and goal) by student umpires from the States and Territories of Australia.
James is the first Queensland Student Umpire to be awarded this prestigious medal and is a credit to his commitment, dedication and personal development.
Last Modified on 05/02/2009 14:12