2013 Umpiring Round: Angela Wood

Angela Wood is the Assistant Director of Indigenous Participation and Engagement at the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport in Canberra.

She tells us why she loves umpiring:

My introduction to umpiring came at a very young age. My father field umpired many games on Bathurst Island when I was a child, and continues to umpire with the NTFLUA today.

I started umpiring with the NTFLUA in 1995, when dad and my youngest sister Joanne (who had already started umpiring) encouraged me to take up umpiring as I needed to get more active.

That part of my career was short lived when I moved from Darwin to WA in 1997, then in 2006 moved to Canberra. A friend of mine encouraged me to take up umpiring again in 2007 with the Canberra AFL League.

In 2011 I did the Division 1 Grand Final and was subsequently asked to join the NEAFL panel in 2012. Due to a knee reconstruction late 2011 I had a slight delay in my NEAFL debut, but we got there.

Being asked to say what it means being an Indigenous umpire at the state level, is a difficult question for me because I have never looked at it that way, especially when you come from a family of umpires, and involved in an umpiring environment where it’s not an issue and everyone is supportive regardless of your background.

I discussed it with a friend of mine who quite simply said that it’s just nice to have someone Indigenous there, and you just don’t know who will watch you and want to take it up.