A family holiday to Cambodia turned into an opportunity for two young junior field umpires from the Eastern Football League, to help promote the game of Australian Rules in South-East Asia.
Here is their story, penned by their father, Steve Fulton…
On arriving in Cambodia on the 4 November this year, our family friend Phillip Molloy, who is involved with AFL Cambodia, informed Dylan and Ben Fulton that he had nominated them both as boundary umpires in an upcoming tournament the local AFL team was having. Dylan, in his third year as a junior field umpire, and Ben, having just completed his first, both jumped at the chance.
This did mean the family trip to visit the temples of Angkor Wat was delayed by a couple of days. But it’s not every week you get to watch a little AFL while vacationing in the northern hemisphere.
The ‘tournament’ the local team was having was later confirmed as AFL Asia’s 2013 Indochina Cup, played between the Cambodian Eagles, Lao Elephants, Thailand Tigers and Vietnam Swans. The games were played at the Cambodian Naval base in Phnom Penh on an oval a little narrower than you’d see in Australia and a playing surface which appeared a little uneven in places.
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The games were to be played over two 15-minute halves, due mainly to the 34-degree temperature and near 90 per cent humidity. Two massive Eskies of ice and water were available to all players and officials. Even the umpires had their own waterboys to ensure nobody dehydrated in the heat.
Like many suburban grounds, the scoreboard wasn’t electronic. In fact, it was a white sheet with team names and the scores stuck to the front with Velcro. It was the siren, however, which was a real South-East Asian touch. Parked just outside the boundary line was a Tuk Tuk with its rider sitting positioned ready to sound his horn to start the first game.
The first game was between the Cambodian Eagles and Thailand Tigers. Dylan was named as boundary umpire, along with a couple of the local volunteer umpires, while Ben was to run water in the first game with his younger brother Josh. The teams were very evenly matched and in hot conditions the contest was pretty tough. Yet the Eagles came away with the win, much to the delight of the local crowd.
The next game was the Vietnam Swans and Lao Elephants. Both Dylan and Ben were boundary umpires for this game. The Swans were clearly the better team, scoring a number of goals before the Elephants were able to trouble the scoreboard and going on to win the game pretty easily.
It should be noted the Lao team had the largest contingent of local talent of all the teams, with no less than 11 of their squad being Laotian locals.
Game 3 was between Vietnam and Thailand. Again it was a close game, with the Swans overpowering the Tigers to win their second game and take a handy lead in the tournament.
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After a 20-minute break, which included musical entertainment from a local Cambodian band, Game 4 had Cambodia playing the Lao Elephants.
Like the Swans before them, the Eagles proved far too strong and chalked up another win to draw level with the Swans on the points tally. Lao, however, were quickly becoming the crowd favourites, with every tackle, bump and mark being cheered loudly.
Game 5 saw Thailand and Lao play, with the volunteer umpires were dropping like flies. Age and heat started to get to them all and they were faced with no available central field umpire for the fifth game. Ben was meant to get a game’s rest, but as Dylan stepped forward to take on the role of field umpire, Ben was called in to boundary umpire his fourth game in a row. The game was won by Thailand, meaning the sixth and final game between Vietnam and Cambodia would decide the winner of the 2013 Indochina Cup.
Game 6 was the closest game of the day. It was tough, hard and, at times, very skilful, which really brought the crowd into play. Vietnam took an early lead yet had to overcome a spirited fight back from the Eagles late in the second half. But the Swans held on to win the game by nine points and take out the tournament.
After the tournament, many of the players made their way over to Ben and Dylan to shake their hands and thank them for their efforts on the day. At the official presentation, the president of the Cambodian Eagles singled out both the boys for their efforts and the fact they had delayed their family holiday to help out and umpire the games. He also made a point of highlighting how great it was to have umpires who, not only knew the game, but understood all the rules. He said he would welcome them both back to future tournaments if they were available.
The Eagles President has also taken both the boys’ email addresses and offered to provide job and character references for them both, as he was so impressed with how well they handled themselves and the professionalism they both applied to their roles.
All in all it was a fantastic day. The locals came out and showed pretty good support.
The association has a group of young, underprivileged kids with whom they have formed an Auskick clinic with. These kids all attended the games and loved seeing how the game is played live and really enjoyed the day.
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