Umpires urgently wanted

SOUTHERN Umpires Association (SUA) officials are on the hunt for more members in a bid to recruit and support the growing Casey Cardinia League under-18 Colts competition.
The SUA has offered clubs support in the form of coaching if they encourage some of their own members to become back-up umpires if official umpires are not available on a given week, but as yet no club has taken up the offer.
SUA director of umpiring Tony Hales said that a letter was sent to all MPNFL clubs before the start of the season outlining the stress on umpire numbers.
It encouraged the clubs to persuade one or two people to take up umpiring in a ‘club’ capacity for either Colts or possibly reserves matches.
At the start of the 2008 season the SUA agreed to umpire the Colts and had about 110 field umpires to cover the 100 appointments each week.
However this year the SUA is about 10 umpires down on that with an extra three Colts matches to umpire after the introduction of a Peninsula Colts as well as the Casey Cardinia competition.
Hales said last Saturday there were 26 field umpires unavailable and for the first time in his four years in the job, the SUA was unable to have field umpires in one reserves match, while none of the Colts games were covered and 14 field umpires doubled up, doing an under-18 and a senior match.
“I guess the point we’re trying to make is that the MPNFL clubs have been fortunate in that there are very few leagues that have official umpires in all their matches and we want to keep it that way,” he said.
Hales said that clubs had to realise that the SUA had exhausted all avenues of recruiting and now needed support from the clubs themselves or some commitments simply would not be met.
Anyone interested in umpiring can contact Tony Hales on 0407 990 436.