Five Gippsland Umpires Association members have been selected in the umpiring panel for the under 15 state country championships and youth girls shield.
With some of the best young talent from regions of affiliated TAC Cup teams to take part in the carnival, the umpiring panel has been selected from the AFL Victoria Country umpires academy.
A panel of 16 field and boundary and eight goal umpires have been selected for the carnival, with GUA field umpires Nicholas Frost and Jacob Stuckey forming part of the squad along with boundary umpire Alec Bedford and goal umpire Brayden Marriott.
Three Gippsland Umpires Association coaches will provide guidance to some of the best young umpiring talent in the state.
GUA development coach Allan Magor will coach boundary umpires for the duration of the carnival, while goal umpire coach Brett Marriott and boundary umpire coach Davyd Reid will act as match day coaches on the Wednesday.
The carnival will be conducted from Monday to Thursday of AFL grand final week, with matches to be played in Moe, Traralgon and Morwell.
Previously played in metropolitan Melbourne during April, it will be the first time the carnival will be played in country Victoria. The structure of the tournament has also been altered and will include regionally-based teams which are more aligned to the existing TAC Cup regions.
Teams that participated in previous years, such as Ballarat, South West, Hampden, and Wimmera/Mallee will unite and fall under the banner of the Rebels, while Sunraysia, Central Murray and Bendigo will combine as the Pioneers.
These changes are likely to be supported by regionally based representative trials to be held earlier in the year that will result in 14 teams, aligned to the six existing country TAC Cup regions, competing across two divisions.
The move to the Grand Final Week will allow the TAC Cup regions and TAC Youth Girls Academies the best possible opportunity to select the most talented players for their respective U16 and Youth Girls Squads.
The umpiring squad, which includes some of the best young umpiring talent in country Victoria, will live in at Federation University’s student accommodation at Churchill during the carnival.
Other umpiring associations represented in the panel include Geelong, Ballarat, Latrobe Valley, Mornington Peninsula based Southern, Yarra Ranges, Rochester and Echuca, Sunraysia, Wimmera, Northern District, North-East border, Bendigo, South Gippsland and Sale.
The west Gippsland based Gippsland Umpires service the Ellinbank and District League, Gippsland League, AFL Gippsland Youth Girls and Warragul and District Junior Football League competitions, and have done well to secure four places on the umpiring panel for the carnival, more than larger Associations such as Bendigo, Ballarat and Southern.
Geelong Umpires head the list with seven selections, the GUA among the next best with four, while GUA match Geelong Umpires with three members of the coaching panel.
Selection is a credit to the talented umpires selected and GUA coaching staff, who have worked hard in achieving advanced coaching accreditation.
Selection caps a big year for 2014 Ray Barwick award recipient Frost, who also officiated in the championship trials in Mildura.
The Ray Barwick award is presented to an umpire that is seen to have a bright future in umpiring and is an upstanding member of the group and with talent such as those selected for the championships, coaches will be faced with a difficult choice.
Last Modified on 20/08/2015 10:49