In Australian Football National (AFL) competition, each game has nine referees who act as a team to adjudicate the rules of the game. There are three field umpires, four boundary umpires, and two goal umpires. In order to create a successful game from their perspective, they must work as a team during the game. At different points in the game, the field and boundary umpires; the field and goal umpires and lastly the goal and boundary umpires function as small teams within the game.
These working relationships are aided by the use of cues between each group to ensure smooth play.
Initially, it is the responsibility of the goal officials to get the team to the oval on time and to ensure that each of the other referees is properly dressed and has their equipment. (Whistles, pen and report forms). Once on the field, with the game ready to begin, the field officials take control.
Following is a discussion of how each group of umpires communicates during a game.
Field-to-field referees:
An umpire will start each section of the play and will control the play until it gets too far away, whereby they will verbally hand over the play by saying “Yours” to the umpire closest to the play and then move to their next position on the field. If he wants to maintain control due to a stoppage in play, he pats himself on the back, usually three times, while the other referees adjust their awarding position for the next continuation of play.
The field umpire in control of the play will give designed signals to the players. These could involve a play and a signal or a signal to indicate a free kick and why it was awarded.
Field and boundary referees:
The boundary umpire decides when the ball crosses the boundary line. He indicates this by blowing his whistle and raising his arm(s) to indicate how the ball crossed the boundary line.
If the ball goes out of bounds after bouncing, the boundary umpire raises his arm vertically while blowing the whistle to indicate the ball is out of bounds. Field officials blow their whistle and signal a throwing action over their head to signal the boundary official to put the ball back into play.
If the ball flies over the entire boundary line, the boundary officials raise both arms parallel to the ground and indicate where the ball crosses the boundary line for the field official to place the opposing player at the mark to allow a free kick to be taken . taken by the attacking player.
If the ball passes over the boundary line but was touched in flight, the boundary official raises one arm vertically and hits his raised arm three times to indicate that it was touched. Then, if it looks like it was kicked all the way through but came off the leg above the knee, the boundary umpire will tap his knee three times to indicate this is happening.
When the ball is in the back post area, there are three scenarios. Is it so:
-
Out of bounds completely hitting the back post; (The boundary referee’s arms are stretched out parallel to the ground and the back post is touched..)
-
Out of bounds hitting the backpost squarely but touched; (JThe boundary umpire hits the post and then indicates he was tagged by hitting his raised arms three times)Y
-
Out of bounds hitting the back post after dribbling in the game. (The boundary umpire raises his arm to indicate the ball is out of bounds.)
The goal referee can help in these situations by giving signals to the boundary referee:
-
Outside arm raised parallel to the ground to indicate the ball is out all the way or hits the back post all the way. It will also hit the post.
-
If the ball is just out of bounds, raise your outside arm vertically. Again, if you hit the post after bouncing, you’ll also hit the back post.
Field and goal referees;
When a goal official detects a touchdown, he will move to the goal line, stop and wait for the field official to say “all clear”. There are five scenarios here. Is it so
-
A goal is scored; (The field referee will put both hands on either side of your face and say “all clear”).
-
A butt is marked; (The field referee will put a hand to his face and say “all clear”).
-
The ball is touched in flight; (The field umpire will bring a hand to his face, then raise one arm vertically and smack it with the other hand while yelling “touched, all clear”).
-
The field referee is not sure. (He puts both arms behind his back and says “all clear” indicating that it is the goal referee’s decision).
Once the approval has been given, the goal referee will signal the result. Sometimes he will indicate that the ball has been hit or has hit the goalpost by reflecting similar signals made by other referees.
Line and goal referees:
The goal and boundary referees exchange signals. They include:
-
The goal umpire hitting the chest to accuse a butt has been noted to indicate that the boundary umpire may move along the boundary line ready for play to resume. If the goal umpire advances for an “all clear” from the field umpire, he is signaling to the boundary umpire that a goal has been scored and that he and his fellow boundary umpire must retrieve the ball to return it to the center square.
-
The goal umpire taps the butt to indicate that he knows the boundary is placed next to the back post.
-
The goal umpire receives a call from the boundary umpire to tell him that he is in his place by the back post.
-
The boundary umpire points back or into the goal area to indicate that a goal umpire has scored.
-
Lastly, when a confusing situation occurs in the end zone, the goal umpire steps over the goal line to the field umpire to indicate that they need to have a conference with all the umpires in the vicinity.
In referee training, all of these scenarios are practiced. After each match, “problematic” situations are discussed and the action taken by the various referees is reviewed. These “problem” situations are often rarely experienced by most referees and can affect the outcome of the game. Therefore, the correct procedure for future use is discussed.