Warrnambool and District Football Umpires Association director of umpiring Nicole Downie says the body is facing a dire situation as it struggles with a major umpire shortage.
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Downie said it needed "15 to 20 more field umpires" to cover both Hampden and Warrnambool and District leagues senior competitions.
President Steve Walker said there was around a 30 per cent drop in membership following football's emergence from its one-year coronavirus-enforced hiatus.
At least two WDFNL senior games a week, decided by the league, will be officiated solely by club umpires this year, up from one in 2019.
Only one senior game will have a full complement of umpires with two others having a mix of club and WDFUA officials.
All Hampden league senior games will have WDFUA and/or Western District umpires.
Ten games across all grades in both leagues will be officiated by just club umpires this weekend with another eight with at least two club-affiliated volunteers.
Six WDFUA field umpires, which could cover three games, are unavailable this weekend.
Downie said it'd be great to have umpires to officiate all games but it was not possible.
She said the association found it very hard to attract new members with less than 10 joining its ranks in the off-season.
"The AFL do as much as they can to approach the subject just like us with our social media," she said.
"We try to entice clubs to get juniors to come along if they want a run and to make some money or we ask for ex-footballers to join."
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COVID-19 also impacted WDFUA's member retention with some of its teenagers finding part-time work elsewhere in 2020 and have stepped away.
Downie said promoting for new members was unsuccessful and like football clubs across the region it was struggling to get new faces.
"Recruitment is a big thing and we've been focused on getting people to want to come in," she said. "We can't go dragging them off the street, they have to be willing to have a run around.
"Anybody is welcome. Don't be shy, we're a good group. We're about positiveness and creating a positive environment for anyone to be in.
"Everyone is part of the team no matter the gender or age - we are a team."
The WDFUA trains Mondays and Wednesdays from 6pm at Mack Oval and has a junior program from 5pm on Wednesdays.
Downie said the preconceived stereotypes of umpires shouldn't hold people back from joining.
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"At the end of day we're like a footy club. We have training sessions, meals, social events and all these sorts of things," she said.
"People have these stereotypes of umpiring and they are in their own bubbles but at the end of the day we are still normal people.
"We want to break down the stereotypes and make people realise we're normal people, like I'm a nurse, we've got Steve (Walker) at Harvey Norman and Gav (Sell) at WDEA. We are part of the community.
"We have got (senior field umpire) Andrew Lougheed's little men, who are 10 and 11, on boundary and they love it. My son Campbell does senior boundary in the Hampden league."
Downie said there was development opportunities for both juniors and former players who joined the WDFUA.
"They (juniors) can start doing boundary and then go into the field at 16 if they want to," she said.
"We also like ex-footballers as they know the rules already, know how to talk to players and the only thing we work on is their positioning, coaching them where to run and all that."
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