AT THE age of just 17 Seb Dalgleish will umpire his first senior Wimmera Football League grand final on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It is rare for an umpire so young to be entrusted with the huge responsibility and opportunity but he said he would enjoy it.
“I’ll go into it as if it’s just another game,” he said. “There will be a bit more pressure with more people watching but you just have to try not to think about it.”
Dalgleish will umpire alongside the more experienced Paul Clough and Brandon Campbell.
Clough is also on the Wimmera and District Football Umpires selection panel. He said it was Dalgleish’s consistency, improvement and fitness level that earned him the right to umpire the final.
“I’ve been umpiring for 10 years and I’ve never seen anyone so young step up for the grand final,” he said. “Even as I look back on my playing days – which takes us back 30 years – I wouldn’t have seen it in that time.”
Clough said Dalgleish had his full confidence otherwise he would not have been appointed.
“He handles himself very well,” he said. “He’s very confident in his decisions and he certainly knows how to address any possible heated altercations that can happen around the ground.”
Umpiring the senior grand final is a big step for Dalgleish on his umpiring pathway. Training as a rookie-listed VFL umpire this season has helped Dalgleish improve.
“It’s a great stepping stone along that career path,” he said. “To progress to the next level you need to have umpired in senior grand finals. So hopefully this can help me progress into the higher grades.”
Before he umpires, Dalgliesh will be in action for the Horsham Saints in the 17 and under grand final.
“If I win that I get to sing the song and then my focus switches to umpiring later in the afternoon,” he said. “Hopefully I don’t get injured.”
It will also be a big day for another umpire. Ian Bedford will umpire his 1000th game in the under-17s.
The Ballarat-based umpire will share the occasion with his son Nick as the pair run around as central umpires.
Bedford started his umpiring in 1978 and has umpired a number of senior grand final in Ballarat and the Wimmera, and also umpired at a senior VFL level.
