One of the three field umpires in last Sunday’s big Easter football clash between Yarrawonga and Wang Magpies at Mulwala was town resident 17-year-old Judd Hooper.
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It was his third Ovens and Murray league senior match this season. “It was my goal to get a seniors game at some stage in the year. To have it at round one I was pretty happy,” he told the Yarrawonga Chronicle.
“I’m really liking it. It’s a real good challenge and it’s a handy bit of pocket money. I know people in Horsham and made friends from Cairns all the way down to the Mornington Peninsula through umpiring.”
The son of Brett and Jenny Hooper, grandson of Lorraine and the late Barry Hooper, and grandson of Paul and the late Pat Talbot, Judd learnt his trade in Queensland after copping bad injuries in football at about 14-years-of-age.
“After two school football (AFL Aussie Rules) games going up against rugby players I had broken collarbones and a broken arm in rugby tackles – I needed to do something different,” he explained.
“I started in the Under 10s helping out.” Then it was a full on 18 months with Under 16s as the sole field umpire and grand-final, onto the Under 18s and open age reserve and senior grades, as well as beforehand the week-long national Under 15 championships in Adelaide.
Experienced umpires in the sunshine state, Tony Boyanton and Rohan Briggs, were top mentors to Judd who is focused on the on-field action.
“I block crowds out,” he said. ”People do get pretty vocal. There’s plenty of football coverage in the papers all the time.”
After the game, it’s votes time which takes “five to 10 minutes”. “We (the umpires) have a chat at three-quarter-time about players and numbers of possessions, and if they keep their intensity up in the last quarter usually go on to get the votes,” Judd said.
After he successfully completed his Year 12 studies last year, the family moved to Mulwala at the start of December. The umpiring fraternity at the Wangaratta training base had heard of the teenager’s talent.
Judd, who is seeking a carpenter apprenticeship, was thrilled at the warm reception upon meeting other umpires and officials at training. “Yeah, we’ve heard about you!” they said. “It was great.”
With estimated running on match day totaling 13kms, he has to be fit. “I train every day with gym work and training in Wangaratta Tuesday and Thursday,” Judd said.
“On Sunday’s game, with Jason Raines umpiring his 200th game and Warwick Henderson who has umpired seven O and M grand-finals, it’s like the masters and the apprentice.”
Judd loves his umpiring and has goals, to work hard and through all the necessary levels, to hopefully one day reach the pinnacle. “I’d love to do AFL,” he said.
That journey starts, he said, with getting as many senior games as possible this year in the strong O and M league.
The highly respected Warwick Henderson described Judd, 37-years his junior, as “a good up and coming umpire.”
“He’ll go places, if he keeps his head on his shoulders,” the 54-year-old Henderson who has umpired 578 games including seven O and M grand-finals, told the Yarrawonga Chronicle. “I reckon he’ll make Melbourne.
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