AFTER much publicity about umpire abuse in the past couple of weeks, I find it a shame that someone thinks it is OK to steal from them.
My son umpires junior football and absolutely loves it.
I therefore find it disgusting that on Sunday, July 1, someone entered the umpires’ change rooms at MacDonald Park in Padbury and robbed two junior umpires of their hard-earned wages while, due to a lack of umpires within the district, they had to umpire a second game.
These boys work hard for their money.
If they do their job right they very rarely earn thanks, but if they make errors everyone is very keen to let them know.
Clubs need to provide secure areas for the umpires to store their personal belongings so they only have to worry about their job.
The umpires are an integral part of our sporting community and, therefore, need to be treated with the same respect as the players.
If anyone has any information as to the person(s) who feel that they deserved the money more than the two guys who officiated at two games please contact the police or the Whitford and Kingsley football clubs so they know who to look out for.