WARRNAMBOOL umpire Greg Lemmens’ 600th game will have a family flavour.
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His son Ben will travel from Melbourne, where he umpires in the Eastern league, with whistle in hand to help celebrate the magic milestone on Saturday.
The Hampden league reserves match between Koroit and Hamilton Kangaroos will be the first time the father-son combination will umpire together.
Lemmens, 56, said he was thrilled the Warrnambool and District Football Umpires Association made it possible.
Ben, now 29, started umpiring when he was 10.
“It will be fantastic,” Lemmens said.
“One thing the coaches allow us to do is pick who is there for a milestone, so they are allowing me to get Ben down.”
The lifelong Warrnambool resident, who works as a farm advisor for Murray Goulburn, has had two stints as an umpire.
Lemmens’ first began in 1977 as a boundary umpire before mates came calling and he returned to football with Warrnambool.
His second incarnation as an officiator came in 1983 when he returned to the south-west after university to start shift work at Kraft Foods.
Lemmens said his first stint was born out of a desire to keep fit.
“I was running athletics and was looking for something to keep me fit during winter, that’s why I took up boundary umpiring," he said.
“(After playing for Warrnambool during uni), I started shift work so I couldn’t hold on to a full-time position in footy, so I went umpiring again because I wanted to put back into the game.”
Lemmens said he was grateful he had the opportunity to both play and officiate football.
He rated the friendships he’s formed – with people inside and outside of the umpires association – over four decades as his greatest gifts.
“They’re different but I think I enjoy umpiring more,” Lemmens said.
“You can’t play much more after your early 30s because you’re getting crunched.
“But with umpiring you can keep going because it’s running and not body contact.”
Lemmens is unsure how many more games he will add to his tally with the wear and tear on his body becoming more evident each season.
But walking away from his role completely is not on his agenda.
“The old knees tell you that you should be stopping and the back too but you keep going,” Lemmens said.
“I think this is probably my last year running but I might go as a goal umpire.”