Teenagers happy to help take charge on field

HARRY Gower is just one example of the talent coming through AFL Barwon’s umpiring ranks, according to his boss Jock Hillgrove.

The 15-year-old has already found himself at GFL senior level, and Hillgrove has him pencilled in for the VFL down the track, should he choose to pursue a career.

Gower is one of a number of teenagers whistleblowing in Geelong every Saturday.

“We’ve got about eight or nine teenagers umpiring senior footy at the moment,” Hillgrove said.

“Some did the back end of last year, obviously, and we had six or seven people leave, so there was an opportunity to put them up and see how they go. From all reports they went through with flying colours on the weekend.

“Daniel Robinson, around the same age as Harry — maybe a year older — did a GFL game on the weekend at Joeys.”

But Hillgrove is pretty excited about Gower, who is one of the youngest in the department.

“Harry’s one out of the box, he’s going to be pretty good I think,” he said.

“He’s a very, very exciting prospect. His composure and maturity (impresses most).

“He’s very quick across the top of the ground, has a good presence for someone of his age, he’s competent and he’s very, very confident in what he does as well.

“He’s in his third or fourth senior game, so into the GFL pretty quick. It’s a good challenge for him and a lot of the others, they’ll all get their opportunity.”

Hillgrove said Gower, at 15, wasn’t too young to be umpiring seniors.

“We certainly think that being in the GFL is going to benefit his type of umpiring development very quickly,” he said. “We would see him, hopefully by the time he’s 18-20, that he’s done 100 senior games, and if not, up at the VFL if that’s the pathway he chooses.

“Obviously he’s worked through the juniors the last few years. I think he did an under-16 Division 2 grand final last year.

“He put in a few senior practice matches and then Round 1 he was in the Bellarine reserves.”

AFL Barwon’s umpiring ranks remain thin for Sunday junior games, however, and Hillgrove would love to add up to 50 more umpires to his books.

He’s targeting open-aged footballers who are looking to stretch the legs after a game of footy.

“We’re struggling massively on Sundays. There’s a lot more football on Sundays, so we desperately need a lot of umpires, particularly field,” Hillgrove said.

“We’re looking for ex-footballers, and in particular Saturday footballers that may want to do some paid recovery on a Sunday. Come in and do some under-13s and under-15s in the boys and girls. We’re looking for plenty there.

“We probably need another 50 umpires to make Sunday a bit more comfortable.”

To find out more, email Jock Hillgrove on jock@aflbarwon.com.au.