AFLUA life member and former goal umpire, Troy Mavroudis was finally and officially retired from the association. Troy retired from AFL umpiring in September 2013 and rather than hanging around the Gold Coast, he packed his flags, his family and their belongings and headed to Wagga in NSW to take up an umpire development role with NSW/ACT AFL.
So how do we then celebrate Troy’s career in an appropriate manner? We wait until last Saturday and present his caricature to him after the NAB Challenge game in Lavington, where Troy was working.
Three of our current executive members, Luke Walker, Shane Thiele and president, Chris Kamolins, himself a recent Queenslander were appointed to the game and were very pleased to be able to send Troy off in a fitting manner. The group assembled in the rooms after the game where Chris reflected on Troy’s career. One hundred and thirty-four games over 10 years out of Brisbane is a significant effort, one that we all agree would be closer to 200 games if you were a Melbourne based umpire.
Troy was very humbled to be the focus of attention and pleased that some of the guys in the room had also travelled to London with him to umpire in an exhibition match. “Sometimes we underestimate what we have achieved when we are in the game and it is only when we step away that we can be satisfied with our career,” reflected Troy.
“It is about the great friendships we make as well. The caricature is a sensational memoir.”
Troy was then straight back to business with his coaches and young umpires who were part of the presentation and had them focused on chatting with the AFL umpires about their games.
Pictured: Troy Mavroudis with AFLUA President Chris Kamolins
