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Welcome to 2009 Season, with only a week to go before official training recommences it only feels like yesterday when we all together celebrating a fantastic 08 season.

Training
Official training for the AFL Sydney Umpiring Group will commence on Tuesday 3 February 2009 at The Reg Bartley Oval, WaratahStreet, Rushcutters Bay and Whalan Reserve, Debrincat Avenue, Whalan. Training begins at 6pm sharp please be changed and ready to train at 6pm!
Training is Tuesday and Thursday nights with The Reg Bartley Oval being used both nights and Whalan Reserve on Tuesday nights only.
Whalan Reserve will be in use until the facility at Blacktown Olympic Park is ready for use (approx. mid June).  At this point there is no update on North Sydney Oval except to say that discussions are ongoing.

Coaching Sessions
Field Umpires
Coaching sessions will now be conducted on a Tuesday night after training at both the Western Sydney and Sydney training venues.  Please note this is a change from last season.  In season coaching sessions for the Premier Division Senior Field Umpires will be conducted on Thursday nights.
Boundary Umpires
Coaching sessions will be conducted on a regular basis on Thursday evenings.
Goal Umpires
Coaching sessions will be conducted on a regular basis on Thursday evenings.

AFL Sydney Competition Restructure
A major restructure of the competitions has occurred with the existing club based system of Premier Division Seniors and Reserves, First Division Senior and Reserves and the Second Division competitions replaced by a team based divisional structure. The new structure is aimed at making for more competitive competitions across the board, after years of lopsided results throughout most of the senior competitions.

Coaching Staff
The coaching staff for season 2009 will be:-
Umpires’ Coach - Graham Glassford
Field Umpires’ Coach - Keith Ogston
Field Umpires’ Assistant Coach - Simon Harrison
Western Sydney Umpires’ Coach – Christine Burrows
Field Umpires’ Match Day Coach – Nick Angelos
Field Umpires’ Match Day Coach – Richard Cox
Field Umpires’ Match Day Coach – George Acland
Boundary Umpires’ Coach - Stewart Eckerman
Goal Umpires’ Coach - Ken Ray
Strength & Conditioning Coach - Michael Hetherington

Comings and going for the 09 season
George Acland who will be taking a role as a match day coach and has been involved in the AFL Sydney Umpiring group for some time including umpiring a senior Grand Final.  Lately he has been assisting with the coaching of some junior umpires in the Sydney North competition.
Christine Burrows as previously advised now assumes the role of the Western Sydney Umpires Coach after close to 10 years as the junior coach in Sydney West.  Peter Hoffman due to work reasons has moved from his position and is currently overseas with work.
It is with regret that we loose Greg Lyons from the coaching team due to work and family commitments.  We wish him all the best and are fortunate to have the likes of Stewart Eckerman to step into the role as the AFL and AFL Sydney Boundary Umpires’ Coach.
Andrew Jones leaves the sunny shores of Sydney to live in the UK from March.

Induction Night
This year we will be holding an induction night for all umpires (new and existing) on Tuesday 24 March with a venue to be advised.

Season Dates
A calendar of season dates will be distributed in early February indicating coaching sessions, AFL Sydney Games, AFL games played in Sydney and other training information.
A quick glance of the home and away season:-

• Matches will commence on the weekend of 4th/5th April 2009 for all competitions.
• The Queens Birthday long weekend has been reserved as a wet weather round.
• The NAB Under 16 National Championships will be hosted in NSW this year at the new Blacktown facility on 4th/5th, 7th/8th, 10th/11th July.
• AFL Sydney will play a representative match against AFL Canberra on 25 July at Blacktown.  That weekend is also reserved as a wet weather round.
• Premier Division, Division One and Under 18 Premier Cup will play their Grand Finals on 19 September.  All other grades will play on 12 September with venues for finals still to be determined.

Sydney Regional Junior Umpiring Squads
Nineteen young aspiring umpires from across the Sydney region have been selected in the 2009 squad.  At various times during the year these umpires will be training with the AFL Sydney Umpiring Group.  Approaches will be made to umpires re mentoring the regional squad umpires.

AFL Umpiring High Performance Academy
Late last year a new program was launched by the AFL which links into the Australian Sport Commissions National Officiating Scholarship Program to develop potential AFL umpires within Australia.  Each state is able to select one Field Umpire to be a part of that program.  The inaugural representative for NSW/ACT is Paul Barron.  The program will involve umpires participating in a range of activities including a ‘High Performance Mentoring Program’, personal development opportunities within the National Officiating Scholarship Program and activities incorporating the AIS/AFL football academy.