Sport
12 June, 2026
Umpires celebrate special milestones
FOR football umpires Jamie Lake and Andrew Lougheed, last weekend’s round marked special milestones in their time with the whistle.
For Lake, last Saturday’s Warrnambool and District League senior football clash between Merrivale and Kolora Noorat marked his 950th game as an umpire.
“I’ve been umpiring for about 40 years now and I still enjoy it; I’m not a fan of training but I do love Saturday’s, it’s a great way to keep fit,” Lake said.
“I was about 14 when I first took up a whistle, I never played the game but always followed it and was keen to learn how to umpire. All my games have been with the Warrnambool umpire’s group.
“When I first started we only had one field umpire and thankfully I was only doing the juniors back then; now we always have two and sometimes three.”
And for Lougheed, who officiated at the Hampden League’s round eight clash between Warrnambool and Terang Mortlake, the day marked his 400th game as a field umpire.
“It’s a great way to stay involved with the sport (umpiring); I was never much of a player as a kid, I was more of a runner so this suits me better,” Lougheed said.
“When I add up all my games with the whistle, I’m actually only about three games shy of 500 games as an umpire.
“I first picked up a whistle running the boundary as a junior in 1987 and in 1996 the umpires’ association started a junior program. I headed to Melbourne for a short stint for work before returning to the district with a young family in 2013 and I’ve been umpiring ever since.”
Lougheed’s teenage sons, Michael (16) and Aaron (14) also share their father’s passion for football umpiring and are currently developing their skills in both the Warrnambool District and Hampden leagues.
“Michael recently ran his first Hampden league senior boundary which was a great effort; both boys share my passion which is great to see.”
Other umpiring milestones last weekend included Hampden League boundary debuts for Sophie Wrigley, Connor Boneham, Xavier Wearne and Akich Padiet.
Jackson Porter also officiated his 50th game as a boundary umpire.
