By JARROD POTTER
UMPIRING is in the blood for Cranbourne’s Terry Edwards.
There’s no other way to describe a man who will pick up the whistle rain, hail or shine to get out and get onto the field to give a fair contest to South East Juniors (SEJ) footballers across the league.
Throughout the years – for 36 years behind the whistle – Edwards umpired his 600th junior football match, in Cranbourne’s 145-point win over Narre South in Premier 1 competition.
He’s umpired at the higher levels in senior leagues around the state, but he’s loved returning to the juniors ranks and helping put on SEJ (formerly DDJFL) matches since the late 1980s.
Edwards puts his life in officiating – with his total umpired games well over 1000 – down to staying fit and interested in sport while keeping young as the spry 66-year-old loves running the middle of muddy grounds around the south east suburbs every winter.
“Just kept me interested in the game I love – when I was a youngster that’s all we knew,” Edwards said.
“Football and cricket took up most of my leisure time – we played at school on the weekends and every opportunity we could do it.
“It’s a fitness thing too – always been mad on fitness and dabbled in triathlons and run a half-marathon, but I venture on up Casey RACE nearly every weekday – because I’m retired – and used to do a group fitness session up there.”
It’s not just the winter scene that tempts his umpiring instincts, Edwards has also been a mainstay of the Dandenong District Cricket Umpires Association (DDCUA) and umpired countless DDCA Turf 1 matches and finals throughout his years.
“Mainly keeping the base of fitness and that’s why I’ve been able to keep umpiring – cricket is more concentration and more of the mental game, but just the love of that game too,” Edwards said.
Throughout the years, the grand finals have captivated Edwards the most, especially back when they were mostly held at Frawley Road in Hallam as the crowds flocked in to watch the best DDJFL kids battle it out.
“Every grand final that I’ve done,” Edwards said. “I can remember when I was with the South East Juniors and it the one umpire system back then, and we’d draw massive crowds during the finals at Frawley Road Hallam … those were a real highlight.”
Edwards wanted to thank his family – wife Denise and children Sarah and Ty – former umpiring advisors and the sporting community for their support of his umpiring over the years.
