THE AFL field umpires are making a head start on their preparations for 2015 and will gather in New York on Saturday night for a week-long professional and personal development trip.
The umpires have pooled their annual development allocation from the AFL Umpires Association and tipped in from their own pockets for a trip that will include working sessions with match officials from the major US professional sports.
AFL umpires coach Hayden Kennedy said 30 of the 33 senior list umpires are making the trip.
"It will be great for the morale and the camaraderie of the group, but we have never really travelled away to study our counterparts in other sports," he said.
A focus of the AFL field umpires in 2014 was to work in the same groups of three for several matches at a time. Referee teams in the NBA and NFL have been placed in teams for many years and Kennedy said his group was keen to observe how they work together.
"We want to continue to grow the 'team concept' next year, so we're keen to see how it all comes together for them," he said.
The umpires will meet and watch the referees at Monday night's New York Giants-Indianapolis Colts NFL game at MetLife Stadium and will then observe their debrief with the referees department the following morning at NFL headquarters in New York.
They will also meet with referees from the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer and undertake charity work in underprivileged neighborhoods in conjunction with the Australian Consulate in New York.
"The NFL and the NBA have refs aged in their 50s, so we'd like to see how they manage that and how they are coached. Hopefully we will come back with some fresh ideas for our group," Kennedy said.
Several of the umpires are already in the US and three of the group – Nick Foot, Leigh Fisher and Brendan Hosking – as well as AFL Umpires Manager Wayne Campbell will be taking part in Sunday's New York Marathon.
The umpires will start informal training for next season with some sessions in Central Park, however their formal pre-season gets underway on November 18.
