League in need of boost to umpiring stocks

With round 1 of the Great Southern Football League kicking off this weekend, GSFL umpires adviser Terry Eaton is calling for more numbers as the competition heads into a full schedule on Saturday.

Eaton stressed the importance of having enough umpires within the league.

“It’s really important for the game because if we don’t have enough umpires then we’ve got an issue,” he said.

Eaton said they were looking for some diversity within their umpiring stocks.

“It’s really good if we can get some older guys, too, that have maybe finished playing their footy because there are some pretty good financial incentives involved,” he said.

“If we can get a few more female umpires, too, that would be great,”

With the AFL bringing in a series of new rules in 2016, the GSFL has decided to incorporate three of them.

“There is basically only three; the deliberate out of bounds, the 10m rule and the slinging tackle,” Eaton said.

He said there was a sense of excitement among the umpires in the lead-up to the season.

“It’s always exciting at this time of the year; it’s a new chapter and it’s good to see some new fellas and some old fellas on the park,” he said.

“The field umpires that have been at training are already getting excited.

“I’m still putting out the network, so if anyone else wants to jump on board. we need to get them in.”

Anyone interested in joining should contact Terry Eaton on 0439 421 716.