GOAL umpire John Gherashe will notch up his 300th game on the big stage, waving the flags in this weekend’s Warrnambool and District Football Netball League (WDFNL) reserves grand final at Reid Oval.
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Gherashe’s triple century comes after he joined the Warrnambool and District Football Umpires’ Association (WDFUA) 14 years ago.
“My daughter wanted to play football but there weren’t any girls’ football teams, so she went into umpiring and I followed her,” he said.
Since then, Gherashe’s sons Matthew, Brendan and Anthony have all umpired, with the latter pair still blowing the whistle.
The Kolora resident, who is a WDFUA life member, was proud of his 300-match milestone.
“For footballers to get 300 games, that’s a big milestone.
And it is for an umpire as well, especially in my case when I’ve only done one game a week,” he said.
He believes there is great camaraderie in the association, although he is unsure of his plans for next season. WDFUA announced its grand final appointments last night, with seasoned trio Jamie Lake, Casey O’Keefe and Andrew Ferguson to take charge of the senior match on Saturday.
They will be supported by boundary umpires Brendan Gherashe, Amy Clapp, Lachy Rooke and Ethan Tobias, while Pat Nolan and Pauline Pennings are in goals.
Central umpires for the reserves are Wayne Brown and Kevin Bond, boundary umpires are Lachy Mahony, Glenn Moore, Dan O’Keefe and Kellie McLeod and joining Gherashe in goals is veteran Robert “Locky” Eccles.
Taking charge of the under 17s are Travis Monk and Mick Soulsby, with Pat Morison, Sam O’Neill, Maddi Tobias and Tom Hynes running the boundary and Jason Groves and John Maddock in goals.
Daryl Davey and Jim Rylance are central umpires for the under 14½ decider and will be joined by boundary umpires Jo Rivett, Tom Pemberton, Phin Negri and Jet Speed. Waving the flags will be Tania Moore and Kevin Leske.
