Two goal umpiring stalwarts received their retirement caricatures and Pete Nastasi received his life membership in a small but classy dinner in Carlton on Monday night with most Melbourne based goal umpires in attendance.
ABUSE of umpires remains a stain on the game but AFL umpiring great Darren Goldspink is helping give young whistleblowers an “edge” in resilience and coping strategies.
AFL Boundary umpire, Darren Wilson just keeps racking up the milestones. Darren umpired his 350th AFL game in the 35th and closest SA derby. Darren’s total includes 47 finals and 12 grand finals.
The funeral for Ray Sleeth will be held at Le Pine chapel, 1048 Whitehorse Road (cnr Linsley St) Box Hill, on Thursday August 8 at 2:30pm.
The partners of our Melbourne based AFL umpires came together for a night out. The Precinct Hotel in Richmond was definitely the place to be on a typical cold Melbourne night beside a cosy warm fire.
It is not very often that you come across a man in this day and age who is simply prepared to let his performances do the talking. However, for the past 10 seasons that is exactly what the gentle giant, Justin Bennison has done. He seeks feedback from his coaches, works hard on the training track and then gets the best out of himself in games. Otherwise you just don’t hear too much from him.
AFLUA life member Don Cooke has taken 44 years to accomplish the feat, last weekend he participated in his 1000th game of AFL football as a player or umpire. Don’s 1000th was memorable in that he played in the back pocket for the Coburg super rules over-47 team on Sunday morning and then went straight to his 1001st game in the afternoon umpiring in the Essendon District Football League (EDFL) juniors, mentoring young umpires along the way.
Colin Newcombe, loyal supporter of the AFLUA and current umpire in the Colac district, is driving a fundraiser to assist the Football Integration Development Association (FIDA). FIDA provides and oversees a football competition for people with intellectual disabilities. Please see a caption of Colin’s reasoning and details for his fundraiser below;
Don’t let the greyish hair and the craggy face fool you. When you step onto the training track or onto the footy ground, veteran boundary umpire John Morris will give nothing short of 110% and make every post a winner. You’ll know you’ve been engaged in a war of wills when you lock horns with John and more often than not he will come out the victor.