QUEANBEYAN has produced some of the best Australian Rules players in the ACT region, but Jerrabomberra brothers Tom and Ben Izzard are set to make it big on the umpiring scene.
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They both umpired on AFL Canberra grand final day on September 13, and having fallen in love with the art of whistle blowing, have aspirations to one day make it to the AFL.
Elder brother Tom, 18, was the emergency umpire for the AFL Canberra division one grand final while Ben, 16, was a field umpire in the Rising stars grand final.
Both used to play for their school Marist College in the AFL Canberra lower grades, but then made the switch to umpiring , with Tom finishing playing at the age of 14 while ben stopped at 12.
Tom has been umpiring for seven years now, and has umpired in the NEAFL competition for the last two seasons.
He said being just one level below the AFL now had him excited for what the future held.
"If I can get to the next stage, that would be awesome," he said.
Umpires in the region train twice per week, which includes physical fitness, umpiring skills, as well as theory work and video reviewing sessions, and are paid per contract for their work.
There are 15 NEAFL umpires based in Canberra, but Tom said some NEAFL umpires in Sydney were offered rookie AFL umpire contracts, where they would be on standby as reserve umpires for AFL matches.
He said this was the path he would like to follow eventually.
"They do all the things that the AFL umpires do, just not adjudicating the games yet, and from there they try to go the next step and make the full time AFL umpiring list," Tom said.
After four years of AFL Canberra grade umpiring now, Ben Izzard said he hoped to make NEAFL level next season.
"I've been working hard this year to get as many games as I can in the division one competition, so I aspire to become like Tom and eventually reach the NEAFL and then progress further in my career," he said.