SOUTH West District FNL football umpire Alan Heaver is one of the most senior and well-respected umpires going around in the league, and the time has come for a family member to step up and join him.

This is exactly what his granddaughter, 13-year-old Summer Hunter, has done, with the Year 8 student taking up the role of boundary umpire with Westerns Football Netball Club this season.

The young umpire said she was inspired to take up the gig by her grandfather after watching him officiate many games over the years.

“As a little kid I watched him from the sidelines and as I’ve gotten a little bit older, he’s started teaching me how to do it,” Hunter said.

“I was his little runner for some of it as well, taking drinks out to him and that sort of thing.

“This is my first season umpiring, I just decided one day I wanted to come along to training with him and went from there.

“I’m really enjoying it, the people around it are really nice and super enthusiastic about it.

“My goal is to move on to being a central umpire next season.”

Hunter hasn’t exactly been eased into the role in her first few weeks, as after initially being told she would be umpiring under-17s and reserves games she was soon asked to go up to umpire the seniors.

“The pace of the game is really fast, and you have to be able to make those quick last second decisions and try to guess where the ball is going to go,” she said.

“They switch really fast, so you have to be ready to go, and you have to make sure you get away from any fights along the boundary as well.

“I’ve been working on my throw-ins, sometimes if you get it wrong it can fly the other way which you don’t want.

“I’m also learning to deal with the heckling and the bystanders who try to tell you how to do your job, the key thing is just not second-guessing yourself.

“But anyways I still really enjoy it.”

Heaver said he’s “very proud” of his granddaughter for taking up the role despite her young age.

“She was told she was more than welcome to do the under-17s or reserves games but wanted to take on the challenge of the seniors.

“She did look a little bit nervous out there in her first game and got lost a couple of times, but she’s settled into it really quickly and improved on it each week.”

Hunter said she had enjoyed the challenge of being thrown into the proverbial deep-end by being called up to umpire senior football and said it had held her in good stead for the future.

“It’s been a great experience for me just learning straight away how to umpire at the top level, and when I get bumped down to the reserves and under-17s I’ll be confident of knowing exactly what I’m doing.”