Echuca’s Shaylee Anderson will take her talents to the boundary lines of state league football in 2023.
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Plucked from the V/Line Community Umpire Talent Academy, the 19-year-old boundary umpire was given the nod alongside 45 other candidates who impressed at the V/Line under-15 representative carnival in September last year.
It’s a big boost to Shaylee’s dream of officiating at AFL level, one she has nurtured since joining the Rochester Echuca Football Umpires Association and subsequently the Bendigo Umpires Association.
She will have the opportunity to officiate in VFL, VFLW and the NAB League, with a willingness to learn and a good work ethic helping Shaylee along in her journey in the umpires’ green.
“It’s going to be something different,” she said.
“They look at your skills and your coachability, how willing you are to learn.
“One thing that stood out to me was asking questions, being eager and wanting to learn more.
“I always made myself want to learn how to better myself, what I can work on to improve my craft and stand out.
“I loved it, I took a lot away from it, even sitting with the coaches and listening to them was good.”
Behind the latest state football whistleblower, however, is someone who has already been forced to overcome unique hurdles off the field, not the least of which was COVID-19 and the lack of football over the affected 2020 and 2021 seasons.
The discovery of a dangerous brain abnormality back in 2020 after a period of illness resulted in significant emergency surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation period.
But despite the severity of the situation and the lengthy setback, Shaylee returned to the field with some valuable life lessons in the bank.
“It’s an experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but it’s something I learned a lot from, especially about myself,” she said.
“They weren’t sure if I would be able to walk and talk but I was fine.
“You just have to start from scratch, it’s like you’ve got a second chance to start again.
“Not many get that.
“It’s something you have to keep positive through. You can get what you want in life, you just have to put your mind to it.
“It was probably a solid 12 months of rehab but the umpires’ association were really good about it.
“When I first started back I was only able to do half games because of the mental fatigue that comes into it — I still get fatigued now.
“But toward the end of last year, I felt like I was performing at my best. I feel like I’m in a much better place.”
Shaylee now has seven years of experience under the belt, admitting it was a chance injury before netball tryouts one year that resulted in a move to umpiring.
“I was supposed to play netball but I ended up injuring myself and then missed out on the last few netball tryouts,” she said.
“Our neighbour, he was one of the coaches down at the Rochy umpires’ association and he said my brother (Jack) and I should go.
“Gary Langdon is a close family friend, he got us into umpiring and taught us.
“I had heaps of people teach me, a lot of the boys would come and help me with my throw-ins.
“There were lots of people who have had a huge impact on how I umpire.
“I’ve been in love with umpiring ever since and haven’t looked back.”
Shaylee was appointed to several HDFNL games, culminating in the 2018 senior grand final between Leitchville-Gunbower and North Bendigo.
That clash was a highlight for the young boundary umpire, along with her debut representative stint.
“That was my first senior grand final,” she said.
“I received the golden whistle that year which was pretty exciting, then I was picked for the V/Line Cup that year when I was 15 — that was a huge highlight.”
Shaylee was one of 18 boundary umpires selected out of the academy, but just one of four females in the overall group.
Speaking to the Riverine Herald in 2019, Shaylee admitted it was a dream to become the first female boundary umpire in the AFL, and while that yardstick hasn’t changed, it’s all about just enjoying the challenge.
“It’s a big thing I suppose being the first but I’m not measuring myself on that,” she said.
“There’s a lot of training required to do it. It’s not impossible, it’s just about putting the head down, bum up and keep training.
“It’s not something that’s going to come easy — you have to make sacrifices to make those dreams come true.
“It’s all pretty new to me, the next step would be to try and get on a senior VFL list and maybe AFLW — that would be cool.
“I loved last year's V/Line Cup. Umpiring with a whole lot of different kids from across Victoria, you’re all there sharing the same passion and all out there to have fun, run around and do your best.
“Doing the NAB League games have been good, when you get picked for those it’s always exciting and always a challenge.”
Anderson will begin training on January 31 before relocating to Melbourne in February to pursue tertiary studies in Exercise and Sport Science.