Daniel, a 17-year-old from Pambula Beach, is on a steady rise in his quest to become an AFL umpire.

The young aspiring umpire travelled to Canberra recently as a central umpire to the AFL NSW/ACT Swan Cup semi-final between St Francis College and Marist Brothers College.

The Swan Cup is a state-wide competition that encompasses schools from across NSW and the ACT, encouraging students to try their hand at Australian Rules football.

The contest was played as a curtain raiser to the Sydney Swans v Western Bulldogs game.

The match was won by a very strong Marist team, who moved on to the State final at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

During the semi-final, Daniel was observed by experts as a possible contender for selection to umpire the State final.

Graham Glassford, coach of the AFL NSW/ACT umpires, commented that the teenager was umpiring well but was disappointed that Daniel could not get any senior match practice in his own local area.

To keep Daniel’s umpiring skills up to optimal level, he again travelled to Canberra to officiate an U/18s clash between Tuggeranong and Belconnen.

On the back of that performance, Daniel was given the opportunity to fly to Sydney for the final, which was won by Marist College in a dominating performance over Eden Marine High School.

Daniel originally turned to umpiring as a way of earning extra money, becoming a boundary umpire through the South Coast Umpires Association.

He would play his game in the morning before running the boundary for the seniors.

Umpiring coach Dave Boulton encouraged Daniel to try his hand at central umpiring. He went through the 15s and 17s before progressing to seniors.

Daniel has been a part of the AFL NSW/ACT umpires academy for the past two years and previously held a SERAS scholarship for AFL umpiring.

He has travelled away on several camps with the academy under the tuition of the AFL NSW/ACT Umpires coach.