Go behind the scenes of the life of an AFL Cairns Umpire

It is one of the toughest jobs but without them we wouldn’t have sport. Umpires in AFL Cairns have continued to grow just as fast as the sport in the tropical Far North.

It is one of the toughest jobs but without them we wouldn’t have sport.

Umpires in AFL Cairns have continued to grow just as fast as the sport in the tropical Far North.

But there is more to umpiring than just officiating a game of football.

AFL Cairns umpire president John Riordan has been umpiring for 29 years.

“I remember starting it in 1996 after getting invited to come down by one of my mates,” Riordan said.

“I fell in love with it, it is not just about the game you fall in love with though.

“You fall in love with the group of umpires, they become your work mates.

“Plenty of people do it for the extra pocket money and that is fine because it does pay well.

“But I love the fact that it has kept me fit since I started, I am now 64 and still running around.”

Kyra Hourigan, Destin Edwards, Colin Chalmers, John Riordan, Blake Lemmey and Ruby Chalmers will umpire AFL Cairns games in all age groups this year, and are encouraging others interested in participating in local sport to come along to a training session and try out umpiring for themselves. Picture: Brendan Radke

There are more than 96 umpires in the AFL Cairns system, an increase on numbers from last season.

A total of 15 registered are female umpires, the most AFL Cairns umpires have ever had.

The umpires are hosting their annual ‘Come and Try’ day as they look to recruit more umpires this season.

Umpire manager Destin Edwards said it is something anyone of any age can do.

“Come and Try is important because it’s a good chance to learn what the umpiring program is all about,” Edwards said.

“Meet our discipline coaches, learn everything you need to know about how to become an umpire.

“I was playing footy here at Cazalys and I saw the umpires training at Cazalys as well and I thought I would give it a go and wanted to earn a bit of extra pocket money and here I am 11 years later.

Colin Chalmers will umpire AFL Cairns games in all age groups this year. Picture: Brendan Radke

Blake Lemmey will umpire AFL Cairns games in all age groups this year. Picture: Brendan Radke

“The most enjoyable thing would probably be the group, everyone enjoys being around the group, the camaraderie around the group is what I enjoy the most.”

Edwards took us inside on how a day runs as an AFL Cairns Umpire.

“We normally get to the ground about an hour early, get ready and do a warm up,” Edwards said.

Kyra Hourigan will umpire AFL Cairns games in all age groups this year. Picture: Brendan Radke

“We then meet the coaches and captains, head back in and finish getting ready.

“Walk out about 10 minutes before the game starts, do another quick warm up.

“Flip the coin and then get the game under way.”

There are three types of umpires across the ground, goal umpire, boundary umpire and central umpires.

18-year-old Ruby Chalmers has been umpiring for five years and was privilege enough to umpire the same game a few times with both her dad and her brother.

“I started originally because I loved athletics when I lived in Perth and it was too hot to do that here and I loved footy,” Chalmers said.

“So I took up umpiring so I could stay involved in the sport and dad loved it too so he took it up as well.

“Getting the chance to umpire with both dad and my brother was a lot of fun.

“We just seemed to have that connection, it is something that I enjoy doing.”

The oldest umpire is 70 with the youngest 11 for AFL Cairns.

AFL Cairns umpires are hosting their ‘Come and Try’ day at Cazalys Stadium on Wednesday at 5:30pm.

Originally published as Go behind the scenes of the life of an AFL Cairns Umpire