BIGGER, better and stronger umpiring is the mantra of an AFL Wimmera-Mallee initiative that will see the two separate Wimmera umpiring groups merge.
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The two groups – formerly the Wimmera Football Umpires Group and the Wimmera Football Umpires Association – will come together under a united banner ahead of the 2016 Wimmera and Horsham District leagues seasons.
AFL Wimmera-Mallee’s Bruce Petering said discussions between the groups, an AFL Wimmera-Mallee working party and the two leagues identified the game as a whole would benefit from a serious change.
AFL Wimmera-Mallee commissioner Col Thompson chaired the working party, and said the new structure would help umpiring in the region continue to grow.
“Umpires and umpiring are important to our game so it is paramount we do everything we can to ensure we have a great umpiring department,” he said.
The new group will be known as AFL Wimmera-Mallee Umpires and an umpires manager will oversee the recruitment, retention and improvement of whistle-blowers.
Mr Petering said it was clear from the first meeting, at the end of the 2015 season, that one umpire group would be the most ideal structure going forward.
“It’s a big input into umpiring resources that has not been done before,” he said.
Both the Wimmera and Horsham District leagues have contributed money to the project.
The new umpires manager will have key performance indicators to meet during the upcoming season.
Mr Petering branded the changes an exciting chapter for umpiring in the region, noting three areas that would be high on the group’s priority list.
“We’re focusing on three areas,” he said.
“Recruitment into umpiring from traditional and non-traditional means; retention, which is a huge factor for a region that has significant turnover in its umpiring ranks; and the other one is that we strive to have continual improvement.”
With the group under the AFL Wimmera-Mallee banner, Mr Petering said there was scope to encompass netball umpires in the future as well.
He said the commission would continue to push for better treatment of umpires on game days both on the ground and from spectators and supporters.