Collingwood assistant coach Mark Neeld will be making calls of a different kind this Saturday 17 April.
Neeld will swap the coaches box for an umpire’s whistle when he officiates the Ocean Grove v Newtown Chilwell Under 16s match at Ocean Grove Oval at 8.15am.
As part of the “Umpiring is Everyone’s Business” campaign, AFL senior and assistant coaches will umpire junior matches throughout the 2010 season.
Mark said while player participation numbers continue to grow, umpiring numbers remain stagnant which places pressure on suburban and country leagues to cover matches.
“There is an annual turnover of umpires of between 20 to 25 per cent each year with the majority of these umpires leaving due to poor, abusive and negative match day environments.
“We hope to show everyone in the football community that umpiring is everyone’s business, without the umpires we don’t have a game,” Mark said.
Mark Neeld will be wearing a green shirt that is worn by first year umpires to signify to players, coaches, supporters etc that the umpire is still learning.
Mark will be umpiring with 16-year-old Joanna Mousley, a Geelong Football Umpires League member since 2008. Joanna graduated from the VCFL’s school-based umpiring academy at Geelong’s Sacred Heart College. She participated as a green shirt umpire in 2008 and was selected as one of two NAB AFL Auskick umpires in 2009.
