Jimmy Melbourne Cup match WAFL's NAIDOC Week centrepieceWEST Australian Football League umpire Brandon Simpson will have even more spring in his step today when he patrols the boundary line in the annual South Fremantle-Claremont Jimmy Melbourne Cup match at Fremantle Oval.
Simpson (pictured, centre, with East Perth's Andrew MacAulay and Subiaco's Raphael Stack modelling their club's WAFL's NAIDOC Week jumpers), is into his third season umpiring at league level in the WAFL. This weekend and next holds special meaning as the WAFL celebrates the Indigenous contribution to football and society during NAIDOC Week, which officially begins on Sunday.
The 19-year-old Simpson, who was born in England to his Nyoongar mother and English father, said while he'd rather be waving flags to signal goals or behinds, boundary umpiring is just as fun. He said umpiring provided one of the best seats in the house, even if it leaves him open to abuse from the crowd.
"Basically, without us there is no football," he said. "I can take the abuse from fans. I sometimes just say, 'Thanks for your input'. Just recently, someone asked me do I know how to umpire, so I just showed him the whistle and asked him if he wanted to do it. He stopped then.
"Here, everyone loves football, they're just so passionate about it. Umpiring has been around for as long as football has, 150 years, so we have to uphold that tradition and standards."
Simpson has certain goals he'd like to achieve as an umpire.
"I want to do goal umpiring then field umpiring," he said. "And if something with the AFL comes along ... If not, I will stick to the WAFL. We have one of the most supportive environments here. Over time, I'll get better because I know what I'm doing in league football."
Simpson relates having a 'brain freeze' as one of his most embarrassing moments in football. So embarrassing that some of the details are a little hazy, even if it happened a few weeks ago.
"There was an out-on-the-full or out-of-bounds decision," he said. "Then I just paused...so the field umpire runs over and says, 'Just chuck it in'. That was really bad."
* See the Photo Gallery for pictures of the nine WAFL club representatives in the NAIDOC Week jumpers.
DARREN MONCRIEFF
Darren@AboriginalFootball.com.au
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Last Modified on 04/07/2009 00:47