AN 11-time Golden Rivers Football League senior grand final goal umpire will chalk up a significant milestone tomorrow.
Bendigo Umpires Association member, Scott Bourne will officiate his 500th match when he waves the flags in the Bendigo Football Netball League round 12 seniors encounter between Sandhurst and Golden Square.
The match – Bourne’s 316th senior appointment – comes more than 18 years after the Kerang resident first became an umpire.
The 34-year-old’s career began with the Southern Umpires Association in 1999, where he officiated 275 games – 121 of those being senior matches.
The former Frankston resident officiated the 2004 Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League Premier Division senior grand final in 2004 and backed up for the re-branded Peninsula League senior decider 12 month later.
This period also included trying out for the Victorian Football League’s goal umpire panel in early 2005 – a campaign that ended due to injury.
Upon relocating to the district for employment, the Gannawarra Times’ senior journalist joined the Northern District Football Umpires Association, amassing a 210-match, 182 senior game stint with the local group.
Bourne was in the goals for each GRFL senior grand final between 2006 and 2016, with last season’s decider between Ultima and Murrabit his final local match.
The NDFUA life member joined the BUA at the start of the season, and has officiated eight senior games this season – four of those in the BFNL.
