John Howorth joins the AFL Rookie Squad in Victoria after commencing his umpiring career back in 2005, as a boundary umpire looking to pick up some extra pocket money. John moved into field umpiring at the start of the 2012 season to be more apart of senior footy whilst also wanting to challenge his knowledge of the rules.
John spent 9 years with the Bendigo Umpires’ Association before moving to Melbourne to join the VFL Development Squad in 2014. He has umpired 27 senior VFL games and finished the business end of the 2016 season by umpiring the VFL Preliminary Final before finishing the season with the TAC Cup Grand Final.
John relishes the umpiring fraternity as he likes the competitive environment and dealing with adversity. He looks up to the more experienced AFL umpires for the way they conduct themselves, in particular their composure on the ground combined with their professionalism off the ground. To up and coming umpires, he believes you must love what you are doing, have the motivation to train and prepare well. On top of that, on field you must remain relaxed and have a clear understanding of the laws of the game.
John has been greatly influenced by Dean Goodridge, head coach of the Bendigo Umpires’ Association, believing he would have given it away had it not been for Dean challenging him when he started umpiring senior football. “Dean has a positive personality and is still a great resource to speak to.”
Outside of umpiring, John is employed as a 3rd year Green Keeper at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club. He loves the occasional game of golf or cricket, two sports he has competitively played for a long time and spending as much time with his partner Morgan.
Welcome aboard John, we wish you all the best for the year ahead!
Article written by: AFLUA Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Peter Kelly
