OUR TOP UMPIRE REVEALED
MAKING the trek north as an 11-year-old, Aussie rules was always in the blood for Ryan Powell, but it was within the officiating fraternity that he found his place in Australia’s sporting religion.
From a dislocated knee to a rise up the ranks, the Townsville Bulletin’s newly crowned best umpire has known how to make an impact across his seven years with the whistle.
As voted by our readers, Powell, 20, received a whopping 42.31 per cent of votes (55) to be a clear winner, after his work with AFL Townsville clearly didn’t go unrecognised.
Looking back to his first game as a boundary umpire through to his knee injury, Powell reflected on his journey.
“When I moved to Townsville, I was new to the AFL scene in Townsville and didn’t really find myself a player as such, as I found the players a bit threatening,” Powell said with a laugh.
“So I thought the umpiring side of things would be a way of staying in the game and being involved.
“I asked if I could join the umpires and the manager said back then that if I wanted to do a game I could as he had the uniform, so the first game I did was on the boundary and I was a bit nervous.
“I’d been boundary umpiring for about a year and a half and it in the last quarter with only five minutes to go at Neil French Oval when I got my foot stuck in a hole and turned too quick.
“I didn’t scream or anything but I had to get help to get off the field. I was in pain and my knee swelled up pretty quick.”
Unperturbed, Powell kept at it and found himself goal umpiring in his development.
Working towards his “goal” of becoming a field umpire, Powell got accredited and credits women’s football as providing his big break.
“The way it worked back then, there was two levels of accreditation you could get – level one you’d wear a green shirt, then once you got enough experience, you got ticked off and go to level two to an orange shirt,“he said.
“At the time we were very low on umpires, so I worked towards that goal and I started off with under-13s and women’s.
“I was first umpiring when the women’s league started, so that’s where I got my start, and a year or two later I got my first seniors game.”
Contrary to popular belief, Powell said despite starting out with the “big target on my back” in his learner’s uniform, he’d found common ground and respect with players.
Powell takes lessons from games the same as players do on areas to work on and improve. He’s had some downs but mainly ups and has been umpiring at men’s senior level for a year-and-a-half.
“A player’s game day is my game day and on game day, my aim is to do my best performance,” he said.
Taylor Worth came in second with 20 votes, while Kylie Voevodin (17), Scott Brown (six), and Kate Dilger (five), rounded out the top five.