USAFL Umpires Association President’s Mid Season Update – July 2024

Greetings, Fellow UA Umpires!

It’s late July and that means we are halfway through the 2024 season. I hope everyone is having an excellent year.  This update is meant to make sure everyone is up to speed with what has happened so far, what is going on currently, and what we still have coming up for the rest of the year.  Don’t hesitate to reach out and be a part of the action!

MEMBERSHIP

At this point, we have 81 paid members in the UA, which exceeds the record established in 2023!  Thank you all for your continued involvement in growing our group, our profession, and yourselves.  The UA exists for you and to support you.  Read on to see if you agree that we are meeting your needs.

PAY RATES and W-9

This is near and dear to everyone’s wallet heart so just to be clear, the USAFL approved the $5/game increase to all pay rates. These were in effect for the two Super Regional Tournaments held in June.  They are also reflected on the new web page which is under the Accreditation listing in the banner.  Along with this change is a new requirement for USAFL payments (applies to Nationals and Regionals tournaments hosted by the USAFL) – for an umpire to get paid you must have a completed W-9 on file.  This is a legal requirement that brings the USAFL into compliance with income reporting. The instructions and the form are Here.

RULESl

“I agree, we should have rules”, USAFL UA Vice President and Rules Committee Chairperson, Stephen Arnott.

The USAFL rules updates for 2024 were approved by the UA and the USAFL and were posted to the UA website in April.  You can review them Here. Special note: the “Stand” rule which everyone surely hears and sees in AFL games was originally adopted for 2024 and communicated to umpires on the virtual clinics, but has since been reversed and will not be applied in USAFL games.

VIRTUAL CLINICS 

The USAFL has hosted two virtual clinics thus far in 2024, with the first on February 26​ entitled “Match Management“. It focused on the tools and techniques that are available “and should be used” for umpires to control matches, and frankly, are part of the accreditation process. I recommend everyone review this at least once a year as a good reminder.

The second clinic was held on May 7th and focused on the Accreditation Review, Rules Update, and Interactive Field and Goal Umpire Positioning.  The bulk of this clinic focuses on the use of an interactive “whiteboard” to illustrate umpire positioning (field, goal, and boundary) in multiple common situations.  This included center bounce, boundary throw-in, kick-in, and general field play, with the icons/pictures of the umpires (and ball movement) literally moving on the screen to show how umpires need to position themselves to be in the best position to adjudicate calls.  Be sure to review this one, and please, give us your feedback.

The final clinic will be held on Monday, September 16th, 8 pm ET/5 pm PT.  The agenda and notice have not been set yet but put it in your calendar, as it will certainly be a good prep for Nationals.

SUPER REGIONALS 

Both Super Regionals were held in June with the East/Central in Dayton, OH and Western in Salt Lake City, UT.  They were run without incident, as 30 umpires covered the duties in the East/Central, and 10 field umpires handled the Western.  I believe it is the first time that there have been no yellow or red cards issued in either Regional in one year!  The new pay rates (as mentioned above) were applicable, and the feedback from across the USAFL was highly positive. Great work, everyone!

TRANSATLANTIC CUP 

​Next week, the TransAtlantic Cup will take place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Richard Ogilvie, AFL Canada Liaison, is heading this up in conjunction with Laurie Rupe, USAFL UA International Liaison, and of course the AFL as the host organization.  This event is an intermediate step to returning to the International Cup of AFL which was to be held in 2020 but was cancelled due to Covid.  It includes teams from the Americas and Europe in both Men’s and Women’s divisions over the course of August 2-11.  Umpires from all those areas will represent.  The ultimate goal is for the International Cup to resume in Australia again, but that timeline is murky at this point.  Look for updates on how this event progresses in our communications in August.

NATIONALS 

Next up for us is the USAFL Nationals, being held Oct 11-13 in Austin, TX.  The survey asking for your availability will be going out later in July; be sure to respond even if you know you can’t make it.  The event this year will be similar to the previous post-Covid structure. Friday afternoon will be the on-field clinic with drills for each discipline being run by the umpire coaches.  The evening will have the Umpire meeting and Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the UA year will be reviewed and next year’s board members elected.  As always, any final rules questions will be addressed.  Umpire Observations will be completed in bundles on the weekend, and those who earn accreditation or re-accreditation will be honored at the Saturday Night Fete.

BOARD BUSINESS 

Lastly, a couple of updates for the board.  Adam Alvarez has stepped down due to competing work priorities. That leaves an open position​ on the USAFL Umpires Association Board of Directors. If you want to have a say in how things get done and what changes we make going forward, this is for you.  Please reach out to me and let me know if you are interested​ in filling the open USAFLUA Board position.

The second item has to do with Nationals.  Our Nationals coordinating team (which currently consists of Jeff and Toby) is looking for someone who wants to step up, learn, and help with the craziness of coordinating all the 500 assignments and 100 observations for the weekend.  It is important for the health of the UA that this knowledge resides in more than one or two brains (and the two it currently resides in are a bit suspect!).  Seriously, though, this is a great chance to really get involved in running the UA as this is the biggest footy event in the world and takes a lot of effort. 

So there it is; a lot has happened already and we have a bunch more activity coming up.  I look forward to seeing everyone at Nationals.  In the meantime….

Play On!

Jon “Millsy” Mills
USAFL UA President

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The latest USAFL Rule Changes and Interpretations can be found at:

2024 AFL-USAFL Rules and Interpretations Summary Chart MAY 24 Update

 

USAFL Umpire Virtual Clinic Video from May 7, 2024

Accreditation Update – New USAFL Rules – Interactive Field and Goal Umpire Positioning

 

 

Match Management Umpire Clinic Video

Greetings fellow Umpire Association Members,

Welcome to 2024! 2023 was the tenth year of our Association and it was a very successful season as we had a record number of member Umpires, outstanding umpire attendance at the Regional and National tournaments, and received many compliments on the work of our umpires from coaches, players, and observers. And with what your UA Board has planned for 2024, I am looking forward to an even better year this season. Let’s take a look at what is coming so you can begin planning your calendar…

Umpire Association Events:

February 26, 2024 – Umpire Clinic Webinar on “Match Management”

April 23, 2024 – General UA Membership Webinar

September 16, 2024 – Umpire Clinic and Nationals Preparation Webinar

October 11, 2024 – Umpire Association Annual General Meeting – Austin, Texas

USAFL League Events:

June 15, 2024 – USAFL Regional Super Regional Tournament – Dublin, Ohio

June 29, 2024 – USAFL Western Regional Tournament – Salt Lake City, Utah

August 2-11, 2024 – AFL Transatlantic Cup – Toronto, Ontario, CA

October 12-13, 2024 – USAFL National Tournament – Austin, Texas

Notes on key dates above:

We will be sending more info on the clinics as we get closer to them.

The National Team programs have been redesigned and have made umpires inclusive in their planning by creating an International Umpire Panel featuring a Umpire Liaison and a selection panel. More info on this as well as on the Transatlantic Cup is forthcoming.

The Super Regional will be huge! We hope as many of us can attend.

The Western Regional will bring us to Utah for the first time. While it may seem a bit distant and/or costly, it would make a great start or finish to vacation visiting the beautiful National Parks there :o)

And finally, as we head into this season, please keep these things in your headlights…

Start preparing now! Exercise both the body and the brain. Schedule up a work out regime that fits you. Take time to read and then re-read the laws of the AFL game AND the USAFL law adoptions and/or modifications.

Start Communicating now! If you are looking to improve your skills and advance to the next accreditation level, you need to get in touch with the UA Umpire Coaching staff early in the season so your work towards that next level is appropriate and focused.

Start recruiting now! We need more umpires in all three areas (field/goal/boundary). Talk with your local team players and fans about how much you enjoy umpiring and encourage them to consider the path.

Start planning now! Block out dates on calendars. Start watching flight prices and book when lowest. Talk with fellow umpires on lodging and transportation sharing options.

PLAY ON!

“Millsy”

Jonathan Mills

President

USAFL Umpires Association

 

2023 USAFL UA Umpire Accreditations Awarded

From Jeff Persson – USAFLUA National Umpire Coach:

 

We have had a great year in terms of recruiting, retention, and re-engaging! Now that Nationals has ended, all of the 2023 accreditation and reaccredations have been recorded in the USAFLUA database, each being good for the next four years. The 2023 accreditations, by discipline, by level (note that (r) designates a re-accreditation), are listed below.

 

Arpeet Kamdar

Orion Peterson

Cooper Waddell

 

Kevin Gier

Bob Gravelle (r)

Evan Ling (r)

Laurie Rupe (r)

 

Sid Caesar (r)

Mark Gall (r)

Aaron Nelson (r)

Jason Sherlock (r)

 

Larissa Andrusyshyn

 

Adam Alvarez

Jim Batten (r)

Jeff Blankman (r)

Simon Boyce (r)

Dave Bryant

Matt Byrne (r)

Michael Coysh

Darren Henderson (r)

Rob Liwanag

Glen McLeod

Jack O’Dell

Matt O’Leary (r)

 

Paul Lashier

Milo Lombardi (r)

Ross McLaren (r)

Seth McElvaney (r)

Kevin Murray

Steve Noble

 

On behalf of the whole coaching crew, and all your fellow umpires,