LIAM DURKIN
FOOTBALL
By LIAM DURKIN
MILESTONES are nothing new for Don Wight.
After all, the Latrobe Valley Umpires Association legend has celebrated plenty over the journey.
That journey has seen him clock up 1299 games to date.
Game number 1300 will be ticked off this weekend, as Wight takes to the field for the clash
between traditional Gippsland League rivals Traralgon and Morwell.
Wight began his umpiring career in 1977 – and has just kept going, and going, and going.
In fact, he has been around so long he has even umpired current players grandfather’s.
Wight has seen not only the game but the entire football landscape change over his career. When he started, Maryvale still had a club competing in the Mid Gippsland Football-Netball League and Yallourn had just merged with Yallourn North.
Starting out in the days of one field umpire who still bounced the ball, Wight is now part of an LVUA that provides three field and a full complement of boundary and goal umpires to most matches in the Gippsland League and MGFNL.
While one could forgive Wight for thinking 1300 games would blur into one, the man himself said the excitement from umpiring never subsided.
“I take one game at a time, each is unique in its own way,” he said.
“You have players, officials, families and spectators eagerly awaiting a positive outcome.
“I thank the football community for their commitment to their clubs and those who acknowledge my achievement of 1300 games.
“I also thank my fellow umpires through the years of developing, mentoring and friendship.”
Umpiring has taken Wight to places all over Gippsland, even as far as Omeo. Of the 1300 games, he pointed to his first senior grand final, the 1991 North Gippsland decider between Gormandale and Heyfield, as the high point.
Wight has officiated in four senior grand finals, and also in senior interleague clashes.
When asked what makes a good umpire, Wight said there was a few key areas.
“Umpiring is based on knowledge of the rules, applying them based on good positioning, fitness, communication and respect,” he said.
“A good umpire is based on what you don’t see during the game.
“I can count on one hand the times I haven’t been abused but that is part of the game.
“Along the journey there are many stories good and bad that remain memories but you heal with time and saddle up for the next game.”
A life member of the LVUA, Wight has received no shortage of accolades during his tenure.
On the occasion of his 1000th match in 2012, he was presented a special frame from the MGFNL, a plethora of letters from various dignitaries, and to top it all off – a signed football from his beloved Western Bulldogs.
A creature of comfort, Wight has kept the same routine all the way through when it comes to preparation, needing to have all his umpiring gear packed perfectly.
These days, he is standing in goals for senior matches, but keeping his field umpiring duties going in junior games across Gippsland.
It would be fair to say Wight’s record will be safe for a few years, if not, decades.
Fellow LVUA legend Steve Buhagiar recently brought up his 1000th game, but was emphatic when he said he had ‘no intention’ of catching Wight.
After such a lengthy career, there is one thing about Wight that might take people by surprise – he still gets nervous before every game.
If ever there was a sign of how deep passion runs in local football, surely that is it
