However, the sometimes-overlooked contingent of officials - without whom, people wouldn’t be turning up on the weekend - are getting set to throw on the neon green tops for a new season.
Andrew Moore, head of the Goulburn Valley Football Umpires Association, spoke 12 months ago of encouraging numbers within the department across field, boundary and goal umpiring duties.
To be in a similar spot now is encouraging, he says - but recruiting work is far from done.
“We’re still in a good spot, much the same as where we were at last year, which is good,” Moore said.
“We’re still looking for a few boundary and goal umpires, but we’re open to taking anyone in any discipline who’s keen to come out and do something new, and perhaps earn a bit of pocket money.
“Ideally, we’ll have enough to facilitate all the leagues, filling every appointment with the amount of games in this area and to do that, we need numbers.
“The more numbers we get, the stronger umpiring becomes in the region, and it puts footy in a stronger position in the region overall.”
Seeking to emphasise that umpiring responsibilities boil down to factors other than simply possessing an other-worldly aerobic capacity, Moore spruiks that there is truly ‘something for everyone’.
“You don’t have to be an elite athlete to be an umpire,” Moore said.
“In our juniors and reserves, it’s a comfortable pace to jog around, and you don’t need a high fitness base to be a goal umpire with a small area to cover.
“In some cases, it can help, but there’s no time trial you need to be able to run.
“There’s definitely a lot of options for people wanting to get into it, and let’s be honest - you’ve got the best seat in the house.
“We have a few who play football on the Saturday, and then that gives them the ability to umpire a Sunday game, so that’s a big push for us - encouraging players to umpire on a day they don’t play, as it’ll teach them so much about football.”
The association is making a blitz of its recruitment plans, with a five-town clinic set to run simultaneously at Kialla Park Reserve as well as in Seymour, Kyabram, Benalla and Moama on Thursday, March 13 from 6pm.
