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David Holowko works at his local supermarket, helping to keep stock on the shelves and customers happy. It’s a job he has had for a couple of years now, and he loves it. He particularly likes the interaction with the customers and helping them to find what they need. The job also gives him independence and an income – something that sets him apart from so many people with Down syndrome.

Round 23 becomes a climax in so many ways and almost a contradiction.  After all, what do clubs who have no hope of making finals want to play for?

Round 22 saw the last of the Fiona McBurney program for 2017. 

Following the announcement of the two teams contesting this year’s EJ Whitten legends game we thought it appropriate to announce the umpires who have been selected to officiate in this great game.

History was created on Saturday when Ballarat hosted its first VFL/AFL game.  Mars Stadium was the 46th venue to be used in league history and the match between the Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide served as the first match to be played for premiership points in Victoria outside Melbourne or Geelong in 65 years. There were fears earlier in the week that the game might be affected by snow, however, the weather warmed to 7 degrees with a wind chill of 3 degrees for most of the game.  Our umpiring team weren’t impacted by the weather at all although I did hear our President Troy Pannell was doing a snow dance at the foot of Mt Macedon when he got home.

THIS former AFL umpire and firefighter is an ambassador for the Adelaide Marathon Festival. He also has won the Empire State Building stair race and can climb most buildings in the time it takes you to read this story. He spoke to Gordon Knight

Ian “Buzz” Burrows came into the year on the back of his 7th grand final in 2016 needing two games to move to 250 in his outstanding career.  He’s not sure whether he walked in front of a black cat, stood on a crack or walked under a ladder (we know he broke his toe when he fell over a dog) but 2017 has been a year he’d prefer to forget.  In his return game, Buzz umpired with his good mates, Adam Coote, Michael Marantelli and Rob Haala in the Geelong v Richmond match.  Well done Buzz.  

Harry Beitzel passed away on August 13th in Gosford hospital following a brief illness, aged 90.  While Harry was renowned for his 16 years of media work on numerous Melbourne radio stations and for his now innovative “Galahs” trip where he took the best Australian Rules players overseas to play what we now know to be the Ireland International Rules Series, Harry was a VFL umpire.