Realising the dream………Alex had always dreamed of playing AFL football but soon realised he was a terrible footballer so set his sights on umpiring, first as a field umpire, then a boundary umpire before taking up the flags in 2012.
Alex has achieved much in his career to date making his debut into the NEAFL at age 15, umpiring the 2014 Sydney Premier Division grand final. He has since officiated in 3 NEAFL preliminary finals – 2015, 2016 and 2017 and was appointed emergency goal umpire in the NEAFL grand final in 2017.
His career highlight was taking the call from former National Goal Umpires’ Coach Steve Stirling advising he was being offered an AFL contract.
Alex’s dad has been the most influential person on his career to date, having got him into umpiring in the first place. In Alex’s first few years, he got to umpire alongside his dad and was appointed to umpire a Division 5 Sydney grand final with him in his first year. Alex is motivated to do an AFL game to reward his dad for all the support and encouragement he has provided thus far.
His advice to up and coming umpires is to believe in your ability, listen to your coaches and peer feedback and ask as many questions as possible.
Alex is currently studying a Bachelor of Media at Macquarie University. He has an interest in media and video editing and has dabbled a bit in YouTube and now has 5.5k subscribers. He loves soccer, cricket and playing the video game FIFA in his spare time.
Well done Alex on your promotion and we look forward to your first AFL game in season 2018!
Article written by: AFLUA Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Peter Kelly