National Umpiring General Principles

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1 The role of the is to provide umpiring groups at all levels of Australian Football with consistent standards to be applied for the long-term success of umpiring

2 Environment Umpiring groups should provide a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for all umpires. Special consideration should be made to the location of the training venue as well as appropriate facilities considering gender and cultural backgrounds. It is also important to offer training and match location flexibility to umpires that compliment the level of football they are participating in.

3 Fitness Guidelines A one-size fit all approach is strongly discouraged and the fitness testing regime should compliment the requirements of the game. If you elect to use benchmarking as a tool for measuring the fitness of an umpire, ensure the benchmark is individually set and should consider an umpire s age, gender, physical capability and the level they umpire. Excluding an umpire from officiating matches solely due to failing a fitness benchmark isn t recommended. The use of skinfolds as a fitness benchmark isn t recommended. It may be more appropriate to utilise these as a monitoring tool rather than an assessment tool and only at elite or sub-elite levels. Special consideration should be made to body image issues in society when discussing skinfolds with an umpire, as well as the testing environment.

4 Individual Coaching The use of match vision (where available) is encouraged when providing feedback to an umpire on their performance. This vision should include examples where an umpire has met or exceeded expectations as well as examples that provide opportunities for improved performance. Feedback should align with the assessment and should be provided in a timely manner. An umpire should be provided with sufficient opportunity to discuss their performance with their coach.

5 Assessment Developing an umpire through coaching should be prioritised over focussing on assessment. Umpire assessments should compliment the prioritised aspects of an umpiring performance, ensuring they meet the needs of the game. For field umpires this may mean greater weighting is allocated to decision making and match management ahead of running and positioning. Assessments should be balanced, fair, reasonable and provide an accurate summary of an umpire s overall match performance.

6 Group Coaching Group coaching sessions should be clear, concise and ideally include match vision. There should be ample opportunities for the umpires to contribute to the session. This may include group discussions, questions, sharing individual experiences and/or delivering coaching.

7 Training In season training sessions should ideally be skill based with fitness gained or maintained in match simulated activities. It is important to educate the umpire on why specific fitness exercises are being completed. Training should be scheduled to allow ample time for umpires to warm up and warm down in a sufficient manner to aid ongoing performance. Consideration should be made to the individual needs of an umpire including physical history, match scheduling and general wellbeing.

8 Bouncing Aspiring AFL and State League Field Umpires should undertake regular bouncing practice and bounce during matches (subject to league policy). Field umpires that don t aspire to umpire AFL or State League football shouldn t be required to bounce in matches or training.