BAROSSA, Light & Gawler football umpire Mark Hermann officiated his 500th game on Saturday, during the A-grade qualifying final between Tanunda and Nuriootpa.
The umpiring veteran’s milestone game comes after both Adam Hennessy and Adam Colbourne also celebrated major achievements earlier this year.
Similarly to both Hennessy and Colbourne, Hermann was stunned to realise he’d clocked up 500 matches.
“It come up unexpectedly, I don’t really keep track of my games,” he said.
“When the president (Adam Hennessy) brought it up on Wednesday night it was a shock.”
However, he said he’s delighted to bring up the milestone, and reflected on the opportunities he’s had as a part of the umpiring fraternity.
“It means a lot, I’m in a pretty elite club in the overall scheme of all umpires who have been in the association,” Hermann said.
“It’s been pretty broad with my games, I’ve had around 200 A-grade games.
“I think I’m the most experienced A-grade umpire getting around now.
“I’ve been able to do some really great (A-grade) grand finals, I think I’ve done six, and had plenty of B-grade ones and stuff in between.
“I also got the opportunity to umpire in other leagues as I tried to push my way into the A-grade.
“I umpired in the Yorke Peninsula, Northern Areas, North Eastern, Adelaide Plains and Mid Murray.”
Hermann said doing that was a unique experience and provided some insight into what happens in other competitions.
“It was good, the clubs themselves run fairly similar in some regards,” he said.
“There’s a bit more of a community focus in some of those clubs because they’re country, but the skill level is different to ours.
“It really makes you appreciate what we’ve got, and we’re privileged to have a really good panel.”
Hermann’s journey to umpiring started after he sustained an injury while playing footy.
“It was just trying to do some recovery and rehab after I broke my ankle playing school footy when I was 16,” he said.
“I had a mate who was umpiring and he invited me to come out and have a go.
“I was kind of going away from football, but still loved the game.
“It’s a great group, the camaraderie is really great and you see a lot of changes in rules, players and coaches.”
As Hermann reached his milestone, his mind was still focused on the future of the umpiring panel, and the importance of recruiting.
“The panel is an evolving thing, we still have an age group between some of the seniors and the juniors,” he said.
“We don’t want spectators going nuts (at the young kids), that’s why we have the green shirt program to show they’re still learning.”