Give me some respect goddammit

The thing about respect is the more someone wants it the less other people want to give it. Ain't nobody just get respect. Respect gotta be earnt. But earning respect ain't easy. And you gotta show respect if you wanna earn it. word.

An umpire is a like a good politician in that when he is doing a good job no one notices that he exists. Note to umpires: the quality of your existence is reflected in how much people overlook said existence. Your intention, unlike a football player, is not to impact the game.

On club rooms around the country read posters of intent. There is no 'I' in team, Winners never quit, quitters never win etc. And a coach desperate for inspiration will often point to such signs imploring his players to go out and win. The banner hanging diagonally from the walls may be meaningless or misunderstood to many of the players but with arms around each others shoulders during a pre match rev up it holds many a meaning not inherent in its words.

An umpire change room is a place of no such camaraderie, rather a different kind of nerves characterised by isolation, fear, apprehension and simple loneliness. no banners on walls and no roaring coach, nor the backslaps of trainers or admiring parents. it's often cold and empty but for the kind visit of an opposition team manager. An elite umpire (is that an oxymoron?), therefore, is used to the condmenation and self loathing that his job entails and should know how to handle it. So an umpire
should do his job not for the admiration and worship of the public, because he will not get it. He should not do it for the chance to make his presence felt on a big stage, because that leads to the opposite of admiration: hostility. He should do it for something more pure and simple and satisfying than any good holding the ball decision: respect. it is the word the AFl uses so often when complaining about the public perception of umpires. Give them some respect goddammit, and kids will want to become umpires. But the media savvy AFl, with its PR department, has missed the point once again. So has mick malthouse. Having a coach shake an umpires hand before during or after the game means nothing. it will probably have nothing to do with umpire numbers in junior level and it is quite pointless, especially when the coach is being forced to do it.

If increasing umpire respect at the top level is the solution to the malaise in umpiring in junior ranks, there are better solutions, and the AFL rules department could have a good hard look at how they could help umpires get a bit of respect in the community.

Don't keep changing the rules. not pre season, not mid season. Don't announce re interpretations of rules from one week to the next. to umpires: do not over enforce rules to the despair of player and public. Maintain consistency, discretion and reason at all times and subscribe religiously to the golden rule of umpiring: Have no impact. this may lead to more respect. A handshake, im afraid, will not.

Tom Mattessi was a junior umpire from the years of 1996-1998.