May 2026

The 2026 season is well underway. I’d firstly like to welcome all our new members - over 20 umpires promoted from community umpire groups in Victoria and also to our ACT, NSW, QLD and TAS counterparts! The constitution change at the AGM allowed us to provide membership options across all Eastern states and territories to ensure our membership base is reflective of who is umpiring across all four competitions.

Speaking of the AGM, we also welcomed in our next cohort of Life Members. Congratulations to Callum Leonard, Anthony Krykou, Peter Howe and Joon-Yip Wong. We will formally welcome them at this year’s Life Member event to be held on Sunday 12 July. Our 2026 Executive was confirmed at the AGM with some changes. With our beloved ‘Chairman’ retiring in 2025, Ian Herman stepped up from Dev Field Track Representative to Vice-President. Emily Jose (Administrator), ‘Fleggy’ (Historian), Jenna Green (Socials), Ben Tingiri and Brady Gutbier (Track Reps) have all returned for this season. We welcome back Brad Kellett after a year off VFUA duties, and welcome new Executive members Jack Cannon, Ben Lefebvre and Lachlan Perdon as their squads Track Reps.

Unfortunately, our Season Launch was for the second year in a row a disappointment. This will be something we will look more closely into towards the end of this year ahead of 2027. But some early season success saw plenty of members representing the ‘Big V’ in the Gather Round SANFL vs VFL state games. For the Men’s game, congratulations to Sam Ferguson, Sam Whetton (F), Mitch Dorling, Kaitlin Barr (B) and Tayla Manning (G). For the Women’s game, congratulations to Sam Ritchie, Emma Stark (F), Emily Best (B) and Courtney Stelling (G).

Our current Fees & Conditions agreement is in its final year. The process for negotiations has begun, starting with collecting everyone’s feedback. Thank you everyone for having open discussions so that we can represent you as accurately as possible, as squads, disciplines and a collaborative umpiring group. My final thanks goes to those squad representatives - Nick Scott, Patrick Sexton (F), Ben Rofe, Angus Cameron (B), Chris Doyle and Alex Tomada (G) - for coordinating your discussions and will continue to represent your squad with the VFUA throughout this season.

We are approximately a third of the way through the home and away season already. Continue to work hard, seek feedback and clarity, and enjoy your umpiring.

Andrew Talbot
VFUA President