FOOTY FIELD ABUSE CONTRIBUTES TO UMPIRE SHORTAGE

The Wiluna Martu Eagles play the Dalkeith Nedlands Junior Football club. Credit: Russell Lindquist.

GERARD MAZZA.

Yamatji and Noongar man Leon Kahn knows firsthand that things can get ugly for umpires on the footy field.

He wasn’t surprised to hear that more than 8 in 10 umpires in WA said they were verbally abused in the 2021 football season, according to new research from the West Australian Football Commission (WAFC).

Mr. Kahn has umpired in the Central Kimberley Football League and in different junior footy competitions.

One game stands out in his mind as an extreme example of umpire abuse.

“I umpired in a game in the Central Kimberley Football League in Derby in 2003,” said Mr. Kahn.

“The team had just got beaten and their supporters actually rushed the other umpires and myself, and we were sort of in danger. It was a big crowd, over 100. The West Australian Country Football League ended up stepping in and banning that team for a year.”

“It's very frightening from an umpire’s perspective. If you're out there umpiring, you just call decisions as you see it, and to have over 100 people rush onto an oval, you worry about your safety, and also the safety of the other umpires.”

Not all examples of umpire abuse are so extreme, but they can still have an impact.

According to the WAFC, over half of the WA football community reported witnessing umpire abuse at 50% or more of the games they attended last year. The organisation says that high levels of umpire abuse are making it difficult to retain umpires in the game.

Vicky Agnew, Pilbara representative of the WAFC, said umpires are in demand in the Pilbara.

“Just in our local league, we’re screaming out and yelling out, ‘Who’s available? Who’s available?’” she said.

“There are weeks we've seen where there are no League umpires available, just because the umpiring pool is so small.

“If you’re constantly getting abused every week, why would you want to keep coming back to a job like that?”

The new survey found that parents were identified by the WA footy community as the worst offenders when it comes to umpire abuse. Both Mr Kahn and Ms Agnew said they’ve seen parents getting heated.

“If we didn’t have umpires, as we know there wouldn’t even be any games to be played,” said Mr Kahn.

“So umpires are part of the game. Unfortunately, we do have parents and people out there who, if a team loses, keep blaming the umpires and the decisions they’re making.”

Ms. Agnew said there’s a need to build awareness that umpire abuse is not acceptable, and for people to call out umpire abuse when they see it around them.

“We also need to promote the good behaviour,” she said.

“So when there are games or spectator groups or player groups that are not abusing the umpire, I think we need to recognize them as well.”