The football season continued successfully into the school holidays for two of our teachers, Science teacher David Banfield and Sport and Outdoor Education teacher Dan Beard — one as a coach and one as a field umpire.
Mr Banfield has been a specialist coach with VFL team Box Hill Hawks for seven years. On 23 September, the Hawks (AFL club Hawthorn’s Reserves) came from behind to beat Casey Demons by 10 points in the grand final at Etihad Stadium.
“My role includes providing feedback to coaches, mentoring the leadership group, skills work with defenders and ruckmen and supporting the young players on the list,” Mr Banfield said. “I played football for VFA/VFL football for Box Hill for 11 years in the late 1980s and ‘90s. My work on game day now is to support the senior coaches and line coaches.” This role will continue next year, with a focus on the youngest players, usually coming out of the TAC Cup competition.
Mr Banfield said the feeling in the rooms after the Hawks’ win was a mixture of joy and relief. “Senior coach Chris Newman spoke to the playing group about how amazing it was to win a grand final considering we were ‘one second away from being knocked out in the elimination final’," he said.
Before joining the Hawks, Mr Banfield had coached Vermont to four premierships in the Eastern Football League.
In Term 3 Mr Beard co-coached our Senior Girls team, along with Mr Johnny Dimitracopoulos, to glory in the Herald Sun Shield competition, but on 22 September Mr Beard was in the middle — this time umpiring his ninth senior Division 1 grand final in a row in the EFL. South Croydon defeated Vermont by 18 points in the decider.
“It was my 10th (EFL grand final) overall. I did my first in 1993 on my 18th birthday before umpiring in the VFL for 15 years,” Mr Beard said. When asked if he was keen to go on next year for 10 in a row, he said: “For sure”.
And what is the most challenging part of being an umpire for such a big game? “There is pressure, although much of this is just what you perceive. Only wanting to have an impact when required is challenging, by that I mean not wanting to get my free kicks wrong.”
Mr Beard said he enjoys umpiring in the EFL, in what is “arguably the best football outside VFL” for many reasons. “There is the social aspect, which is great, camaraderie with fellow umpires and the people you meet at the clubs, plus the former Mount Lilydale students who are playing across a range of clubs.”
