Prior to inauguration in 1972, the umpire’s appointments etc were managed by Ron Hurley. He was the unofficial umpire’s advisor and a committee member of the WASTCA. The umpires were headed by a President, Basil Roberts, and meetings were held in the WACA player’s afternoon tea room. Umpire’s numbers were limited and most A grade games had 1 umpire only and umpired for a sum of $6.00 per Sat. At this time, there were only 18 clubs comprising 38 teams in 5 grades.
The inauguration of the Umpires Association in 1972 saw Ron McDonald as the first official President and Brian Goyanish as the Secretary. The umpire’s numbers grew and clubs numbers became 20 with 44 teams still only 5 grades. Season 73/74 saw club members at 22 with 52 teams in 6 grades. The Umpires Association became more active and numbers grew and most A grade games had 2 umpires – still at a rate of $6.00. From the 1972 season until 1980, the Umpires Association had a delegate, John Ireland, attend all WASTCA Board meetings to report on umpiring matters and to relay any matter of concern back to the Umpires Association. He also had to attend all WACA umpire meetings to see if any major changes etc had come up in the MCC laws etc.
The 77/78 season with David Seragg as the Umpires Advisor and Peter Lews as the Secretary, the Association had a full complement of umpires (2 for every game). This only lasted for one season and the following year numbers fell back to the usual 1 umpire games in grades below grade 1.
The 79/80 season saw the first Umpires Advisor appointed by the Board of the WASTCA and he was paid remuneration. His name was Warren Barter, an ex WACA and Shield umpire. This proved to be an unsound decision as Barter’s repour etc with umpires was for less than was expected from a person of his standing and the Umpires Committee requested the Board to again advertise for the position. The Board in its wisdom decided that maybe a 3 man committee from the Umpires Association could do the role of appointing umpires. So with David Seragg as the Umpire Advisor, John Ireland as Chairman and Frank Smith, a grade 1 umpire, the 1980/81 Umpires Appointment Committee was formed.
This lasted for one season only, due to some Committee members not wanting to follow the guidelines set out for promotion and relegation of umpires. The 81/82 season saw the Board appoint John Ireland to the position of Umpires Advisor and to be the umpires delegate to the Board. Phil Thompson took over the role of attending the WACA umpires meetings.
The 81/82 season saw club members at 29 with 8 grades, turf wickets numbered 13 and the introduction of synthetic turf to the Association with the first installation at Grenville Residence. From the start of the 82/83 season, clubs who installed synthetic turf were given the status as Turf Clubs; hence they could play their home games on synthetic wickets. This decision caused a fair bit of concern by the turf clubs and a motion put at the 1984 AGM to form a turf division was defeated. The Whitfords club gave notice of motion for a special Council Meeting to consider when matches played between a turf and non-turf club, the match would be played using the turf facility. This meeting was passed by a convincing majority. This ruling prevailed until the current time when all clubs have the use of a turf facility.
Web Site Designed and Created By
Our Sponsor
Our Sponsor
