Why Aren't AFL Umpires Full-Time?

[Handsome.B.Wonderful]

I would think most of them do it more because they enjoy it and less because of the money

We are talking about making it a full time job, so this discussion is about the money.

 

[Wojcinski]

We are talking about making it a full time job, so this discussion is about the money.

What? The discussion isn't about the money at all, it's about the validity of umpires being employed full time. Have you actually read the thread?

 

[HTT]

Plus as umpires they would work weekends, so you'd have to give them other days off anyway. They wouldn't be working 9-5 Monday-Friday, much like how the players don't. I'd imagine this is how a week would work for a professional umpire.

Saturday - game
Sunday - recovery/game review (morning only)
Mon-Fri - 2 break days, 3 days training/educating/going to clubs
Saturday - game

Obviously those 3 days of non-game work would change depending on breaks, but on average you'll have a 7 day break.

Since field umpires are already on 100k plus and they have full time jobs to go with that, you'd have to pay somewhere in the region of 200k to attract anyone. Having a fairly consistent schedule, umpires could have a part-time job/education to go with their full time umpiring.

To be honest I don't see why an umpiring career should be much different to a playing career.

 

[These 4 Walls]

As someone stated already, the career shelf life & the fact the average pay would be about 50% less than the players average pay probably means that it is hard to get people to be full time.

It would be very interesting to see how it would work if they could make 10 full time umpires. You would have 1 as the lead umpire in each game who would hopefully be able to set the tone for the game and if the 10 full time umpires can be made on the same page, it might stop the game-to-game inconsistencies for what is and isn't allowed.


They could spend their time during the week building rapport with clubs and hopefully working in the media in a capacity to help educate the masses on the ever-changing rules.

 

[The Swans Blog]

This question isn't prompted by any current topic or "issue of the week", just something I'm wondering.

Surely in the current professional era, it makes sense for the umpires to be full-time, like players, coaches, etc. It would allow them greater time to work on improving their craft, their understanding of the rules and latest interpretations, tendencies of players and trends in the game, fitness, organisation and positioning, etc. Would also provide greater job security

So, why is umpiring at AFL level not a full-time gig?

It's a good question. We've been looking to put together a podcast one off on this topic and we're hopeful of roping in ex umpires or at least industry experts in the know.

It really boils down to several reasons:
1. The afl don't pay anywhere near enough and most umpires lead a rich professional career, earning double or triple, and in some cases more, than what they earn as an afl umpire. While 100k might sound like a lot, it really isn't.

2. They would have to move interstate and reside in Melbourne. The afl won't invest in professional umpires and they sure as hell won't invest in them living interstate. It would set them back upwards of $10m/year on top of what they're paying now.

 

[The Swans Blog]

Reading this thread, I think a lot of people miss the financial point.

No umpire has ever, or ever will in the current part-time setup, regardless how much time they put in, earn equivalent to the average players wage.

In fact most elite umpires earn less than the average non-rookie contract, with a lot of umpires earning less than rookies. Their contact hours are less but they still put in signifant training effort.

At grass roots I trained 5 nights a week for maybe 12-14 hours, umpired 5 games on the weekend. All told and done, i might have ran 40km on saturday and sunday alone, and it takes its toll.

 

[Pessimistic]

This question isn't prompted by any current topic or "issue of the week", just something I'm wondering.

Surely in the current professional era, it makes sense for the umpires to be full-time, like players, coaches, etc. It would allow them greater time to work on improving their craft, their understanding of the rules and latest interpretations, tendencies of players and trends in the game, fitness, organisation and positioning, etc. Would also provide greater job security

So, why is umpiring at AFL level not a full-time gig?

So what do they do in the off season? PlayStation and shoot up?

Probably marginally better to have people with balanced lives than a group who spend more time in each other’s company getting even more bitter and twisted

No one sharing the OPs view has ever given in depth reasons why the umpiring would be better? I don’t quite think ‘they outa be’ cuts it really

 

[The King!]

Should get more ex players into the role and make it worth their while, especially guys who weren’t quite good enough, but have the fitness

 

[random260]

Reckon they need a pay rise $60k is not enough.

Set them up to $125k boundary etc
$250k for field umpires

Umpires are doing a fantastic job. Their consistency, their knowledge of rules, their unbiasness, their relationship/respect with players and supporters

 

[Damon_3388]

Should get more ex players into the role and make it worth their while, especially guys who weren’t quite good enough, but have the fitness

Yeah exactly, it then becomes a viable career option and pathway for people who still want to stay involved in the game, but aren't quite cut out for coaching or media.

 

[bzparkes]

 

[HairyO]

Umpires earn between $80k and $200k. Thats some pretty good coin for part time work.

 

[ManInWhite]

Those who say that umpires going full time will jeopardise their non umpiring careers are on the mark. For each long term senior umpire there is about 4 who only make it short term. I started the same year as Shane McInerney when we were all early 20's but he is one of the exceptions. Too much risk now to sacrifice career and last for say 3-4 years at senior AFL before losing a contract.

The other way I look at it, I can guarantee the standard of umpiring won't be seen by anyone as a step improvement which will then ask questions about whether the significant financial investment was worth it. My money is that's the main reason it hasn't progressed to full time status. Could be too embarrassing.

 

[eddiesmith]

That’s what I’ve always thought, if you’re making 150k a year for umpiring then you can be a professional and just do that. No one is forcing them to work elsewhere.

Even 60k a year for the other two is the full time wage for a lot of skilled workers that have put more in to their career than a goal umpire has.

lol, there is a s**t load of work, commitment and sacrifice required to become an AFL goal umpire. I do a job that could easily earn 50-60k a year, more if I wanted to work nights that required attending a 2 day training course...

If only becoming an AFL goal umpire was that easy!

 

[Lex22]

lol, there is a s**t load of work, commitment and sacrifice required to become an AFL goal umpire. I do a job that could easily earn 50-60k a year, more if I wanted to work nights that required attending a 2 day training course...

If only becoming an AFL goal umpire was that easy!

I never said there wasn’t, it’s just that 60k isn’t a rare wage for a lot of skilled positions that are harder than being a goal umpire.

I’m in the top category of what I do in a very tough industry and up until 10 months ago was on 55-60k a year after about 6 years of work and study to get a solid paid position. Doing a bit better than now but it wasn’t easy.

 

[Darkyprotector]

Need to get 13 year old kids

Train em nurture em

Pay their schooling , pay for trainers any get fair dinkum

Junior umpire scholorships

It's that broken he needs fixing

 

[Wacko23Jacko]

They’d have no excuses if they were full time. Apart from the myriad of interpretational escape avenues they have when defending their decisions

 

[CheapCharlie]

Let's see...we have 3 umpires/game (assuming we're only talking field umps), and you need some backups, so we're talking over 40 umpires, probably closer to 50.

Full time job offer sufficient to tempt them away from long term careers as accountants, teachers, lawyers, etc....probably needs to be at least $200K/year for 4-5 years.

200K * 40 umps = $8M/year...Add in taxes and costs, along with the additional support staff and you're probably looking $20M/year and that's the bare minimum....Just for the field umps.

Teachers are on 200k now?
Accountants and lawyers are estimated to be some of the most heavily affected professions for automation

You could pay an umpire around $120k-$150k and it is a career for 15 years+ That is more than 85% of workers get these days out of the one career.

You start with one of the 3 umpires being professional and work up from there. AN umpire should be able to handle 2 games over a 3 day period or maybe 2 games in 2 days..

 

[CheapCharlie]

Both Tennis and Cricket had struggles first about neutral umpires and then about Umpires being professional. They got through it and there has been vast improvements in consistency in those fields.

Full time umps would have plenty to do in a week.. Besides the actual game or two they do, there would be revision of the rules with an aim to get consistency across the board, training, simulation, visiting clubs to perhaps practice officiate some training, education roles, etc.

We'd get a much more consistent and accountable product from full time umps

 

[telsor]

Teachers are on 200k now?
Accountants and lawyers are estimated to be some of the most heavily affected professions for automation

You could pay an umpire around $120k-$150k and it is a career for 15 years+ That is more than 85% of workers get these days out of the one career.

You start with one of the 3 umpires being professional and work up from there. AN umpire should be able to handle 2 games over a 3 day period or maybe 2 games in 2 days..

I didn't say teachers are on 200K. I was saying that was what you'd need to offer people to put their careers on hold and do the job. Teachers are the lower end of the scale remember.

By the time umps start at AFL level, they're in their mid 20s. So, you finish law school, go out and work for a few years and....You're going to put you're career on hold for 120K to do a job where you'll be widely hated and abused? Yeah, that'd be tempting...Not.

Not that anyone would be guaranteed 15 years either....Even if they're good at the job, injuries mount up.

You're not going to run 2 games on a weekend frequently either. Back when I did the job the estimate was that you generally ran ~20K per game. That's about a half marathon, although unlike a run like that, you're going stop/start/jog/sprint/run backwards, etc. The game is faster now (especially at AFL level, I just did suburban), although there are more umps, so it's probably a similar workload these days....Quite doable, but you're not going to be able to do it twice a week on a regular basis without getting very fatigued, meaning hightened risk of injury and judgement errors.

 

[CheapCharlie]

I didn't say teachers are on 200K. I was saying that was what you'd need to offer people to put their careers on hold and do the job. Teachers are the lower end of the scale remember.

By the time umps start at AFL level, they're in their mid 20s. So, you finish law school, go out and work for a few years and....You're going to put you're career on hold for 120K to do a job where you'll be widely hated and abused? Yeah, that'd be tempting...Not.

Not that anyone would be guaranteed 15 years either....Even if they're good at the job, injuries mount up.

You're not going to run 2 games on a weekend frequently either. Back when I did the job the estimate was that you generally ran ~20K per game. That's about a half marathon, although unlike a run like that, you're going stop/start/jog/sprint/run backwards, etc. The game is faster now (especially at AFL level, I just did suburban), although there are more umps, so it's probably a similar workload these days....Quite doable, but you're not going to be able to do it twice a week on a regular basis without getting very fatigued, meaning hightened risk of injury and judgement errors.

You keep saying putting a career on hold and making out like everyone will be putting high paying careers on hold such as lawyers.

Full time AFL umpires can be a career.. in the same way football is a career for AFL players.

This is the point of full time AFL umpires. It's a career...the person isn't putting anything on hold

Some umpires will study further and follow in to a second career and some will progress through a career in the AFL in some way

 

[ShadeyP]

Absolutely the Field Umpires should be and there should be 4 on the field .
We also need a fair fixture , without these 2 crucial things addressed we will never have a fair and equitable competition .
Just a money making entertainment machine that was once the greatest game in the world .

The benefits of 4 umpires in a shifting diamond formation should not be underestimated .
Far superior viewing angles of contests , decisions made with a stationary eye and under way less fatigue .

Also the umpires would have the ability to umpire until they are 50 possibly even 55 .
They would also be able to umpire 2 matches some weekends with less running each match .

The positioning , communication , and interpretation of the rules are obviously key.
So there is plenty for them to do during the week in constant review for implementation.
As full time professionals they become accountable and the pay packets should match

For field umpires :

You could have 4 categories being Elite , Senior , Grade and Junior with tiered pay structure .
Elite could be earning between $250 and $300 K per year and there would be approx 8 umps within .
Senior umpires between $175 and $225 K and this should have around 12 in the bracket.
Graders earning between $120 and $150 K per year and should have 12-16 within .
Junior umpires start at $75 and $100 K and the pool could be similar to graded cat .

Goal umpires and Boundary can stay part time .

A pool of $ 20 million dollars a year to get this game sorted out is nothing considering how much money this beast provides for all of the bureaucratic pigs at the trough .

Besides the players and coaching departments the umpires have the most impact on the game and what needs to be questioned is WHY won't the AFL fix it , my take is they like it the way it is .

The agenda at play is more easily achieved with grey areas and shifting accountability .

Looks like i am spot on regarding the 4 umpires in a diamonds formation !!!

 

[Damon_3388]

Looks like i am spot on regarding the 4 umpires in a diamonds formation !!!

Diamond formation? Does anyone really know what that is?

 

[ShadeyP]

Diamond formation? Does anyone really know what that is?

1 in the backline 2 in the middle and 1 in the forward line .
As explained on AFL tonight on FOX . Got it Stoffel ?

 

[churner]

You keep saying putting a career on hold and making out like everyone will be putting high paying careers on hold such as lawyers.

Full time AFL umpires can be a career.. in the same way football is a career for AFL players.

This is the point of full time AFL umpires. It's a career...the person isn't putting anything on hold

Some umpires will study further and follow in to a second career and some will progress through a career in the AFL in some way

Unlike players, umpires reaching AFL level in their early 20s is a rarity, so they are often already established in what they do outside of football and are risking more to let that go.

Players are encouraged to study etc. when drafted so that if things don't work out, they have a fallback option. They start out on a decent wage for a young bloke, so if they have a 5+ year career, they're probably going to be on a good wicket. If not, tertiary educated players (for example) are basically entering the workforce at the same stage as their non-AFL peers.

Umpires earn nowhere near a professional wage on the way up, so they don't have that security. Pros and cons of full time aside; maybe it's not realistic until state league umpires get a big pay rise as well.