AS the SANFL prepares to launch its new-look 2020 season later this month, players will not be the only ones forced to compromise as umpires have to find new ways to officiate the game.
League football is set to return to South Australia on June 27, but it will look very different to any match played before.
Each game across all SANFL levels from the Super League to Juniors will be controlled by tight COVID-19 restrictions.
As a result, former Mount Gambier field umpire Ben Thiel anticipates his debut blowing the whistle in a SANFL match will be nothing like he dreamt of.
He said each umpire must follow a strict procedure from the moment they arrive.
“We have been told to show up 30 minutes before the game fully clothed underneath our tracksuits,” he said.
“Before we enter the room, we will be temperature checked before completing a questionnaire.
“Then we just take our tracksuits off, have a short jog and umpire without talking to any players or coaches.
“When the game finishes, we must take off and go straight home.
“They do not want us to stop anywhere and there will not be any interaction.”
Just like all the teams, the umpires have also been unable to train as a group during lock down.
However, the SANFL officials will not return to the training track for the remainder of the season.
This has meant after moving to Adelaide hoping to make an impression in the state system, Thiel was forced to return home in a matter of months.
Still in Mount Gambier, the 18-year-old said it has been difficult to cope with the absence of training.
“We have been told we cannot train for the rest of the year, which is frustrating,” Thiel said.
“The situation is if one umpire catches the virus around 100 others during training, then we all have to go into quarantine and no one will be left to umpire.
“But for me, I train and push so much harder in a group.
“Training at home has been tough because it is nowhere near what we do in Adelaide.”
During the absence of football, the SANFL umpiring system has been hit hard.
Thiel said match-day coaches had all-but disappeared, which means developing field umpires like himself could receive little feedback when it matters most.
“At this stage there will only be two coaches because the SANFL will not be able to pay for them,” he said.
“Luckily every SANFL game is filmed, so the coaches might go through them with us later, but not having the feedback on game day makes it bit of a dead season.
“You can do a bit of self analysing, but you do not know what to work on.
“Being nitpicked by a coach improves you a lot.”
Due to the governing body experiencing so much financial hardship, each umpire has been given the choice to either keep officiating or put the whistle down for a season.
Despite the inevitability of being handed minimal match payments, Thiel said it was a simple decision to continue umpiring.
“For me it was a non-negotiable, I was always going to umpire,” he said.
“I have come as far as I can down here (in Mount Gambier) and I still have university to do up in Adelaide.
“Yes, the pay might be pretty bad, but I will not lose anything by umpiring, I will only benefit from it.
“I do not want to interrupt my dream by having a year off, so it was an easy decision.”
With the prospect of many umpires electing to take a break, the call could hand Thiel an invaluable opportunity to officiate higher grades than he expected in his first full season.
But he could also find himself boundary or goal umpiring matches if numbers drop off in other disciplines.
Despite his SANFL journey taking an unexpected path from the start, Thiel said he is willing to adapt as he prepares to head back to Adelaide.
“I was just looking to have a good opening year,” he said.
“I worked really hard to make a big statement and for everything to be turned around has been a bit of a shame.
“But it is the same for everyone.
“If we (umpires) must do a few things differently to get footy back on the park, we are happy to do that.”
