West Australian Football

2008 WA Senior Community State Umpire Colin Gray has been chosen to represent his fellow umpires on the Australian Amateur U/23 team tour of Ireland in October.

After officiating in the match between the West Coast Eagles U/23 WA State Amateur team and Northern Tasmania in Devonport earlier this season Gray will now take the next step and travel with the Australian Team to Ireland.

Each year the future stars of the game put their skills to the test at the National Under 18’s Championships in a bid to forge careers in the AFL.  Just like the players the umpires who officiate in these games have ambitions to one day reach the AFL, and are part of a development program which gives them some exposure to being involved at the highest level.  The following article documents the experiences of one of WAFL’s up and coming field umpires, Chris O’Connor, as he took part in this program.

Two new field umpires have recently been added to the WAFL panel. Chris McCann and Jason Edwards have been promoted from the WAFL’s Development Squad to the senior list after consistent starts to the 2008 season in the WA Amateur Football League.

18 year old Chris originally hails from the Claremont District where he commenced umpiring in 2006. “I began umpiring as a means of staying involved in football after I finished playing, and immensely enjoyed it from the moment I started” said McCann, who has already impressed his new WAFL counterparts with his level of fitness.

Listen to Chelsea Roffey for five minutes and you’ll realise just what a remarkable woman she is. The only female umpire on the AFL list this year is not only highly motivated, she can engage a crowd full of mostly blokes, keep their attention and even make them laugh – which she did over the three days she was in Perth recently.