Recently  I had the good fortune of attending the AFL National Coaching Conference in Adelaide, along with being the key note speaker for inclusive coaching stratetigies I had the chance to attend some of the sessions delivered by other industry experts, many by champion coaches of the game. It was very interesting to see a sport hold a conference for the coaches of all levels of the game and combine it with the Umpires. I loved meeting like-minded people and catching up with people from my past and am keen not to loose contact with them in the future. Footy, who would have thought the game can be credited for reconnecting old mates.

A few learning I took from the  my attendance are:

Umpires are very important to the game and have a huge role to play in the culture of the game.  They are not all white maggots…some are green. Nah that’s just a joke, I honestly have a new found respect for the guys that do the job and the coaches that coach them, often a somewhat thankless job.

Former Coaches are an incredible wealth of knowledge and it doesn’t matter how much the ‘game’ has changed they still have an awesome opportunity to add value to anyone willing to learn from experience. David Parkin, Stan Alves and Charlie Walsh are three of the most impressive former coaches I have had the chance to learn from, but if good old fashion discipline, plan hard work and the ability to take risk is not for you then don’t waste your time with these blokes, if it is, then the sky is the limit. 

AFL I love the game, I played as a kids and some of my most memorable life experiences have come from footy but I was staggered to learn the game is heading into trouble. Maybe not so obvious at the highest level but at grass roots, if we can’t get some more umpires into the game then the game can’t grow and people all over this great land of ours wont have the opportunities to partake in life long memories thanks to footy.

It’s funny what you think you know about something until you hear what others have to say and share, I was blown away by how little I really knew about the game and am grateful to have learnt from the best in the business. Thanks guys.

If you’re up for a challenge, keen to get fit, meet new people and make a positive contribution to the community then do yourself a favour and see what umpiring can do for you.  

Cheers

Donnie

Donnie training with Hawks