BRENDAN LINES
RFL junior umpire Kayla Tsorotiotis’ 100th appearance as a match official will be marked by her debut as an A grade field umpire, when the RFL resumes for round 11.
Joining Kayla on her debut will be sister Georgia, who will be doing the boundary umpiring and has previous A grade experience.
The duo will join forces with fellow juniors – and siblings – Amelia and Alexis Magiarapis, also doing the boundary umpiring.
Kayla said she was looking forward to working with both her sister and long-time friend Amelia.
“I’m very excited,” she said. “It’s a big thing for us young girls in the Riverland league.”
Kayla said Amelia was the first of the friends to pick up a whistle.
“I wasn’t quite sure about it,” Kayla said. “She got into the gig before me.”
“I came in about half way through the season, about three or four years ago.
“As a group we decided to give it a go and ended up loving it.’
The 17-year-old will make her debut guided by umpires’ co-coaches Mick Trussell and Todd Charlton at this week’s Loxton North versus Barmera Monash game at Panther Park.
After hearing good feedback from clubs and endorsements from other senior umpires, Mr Trussell believed Kayla was ready.
“She started field umpiring a few under 18s games this year,” Mr Trussell said.
“We think it is about time she had her turn.”
Kayla is one among a line of junior-aged umpires the RFL umpires panel hopes to promote through its ranks by giving them A grade experience.
“The clubs have been very receptive to the idea,” Mr Trussell said.
“We said this is what we want to do towards the back end of the season.
“We’ve got a lot of young kids on the boundary which is great.
“We would hope down the track that some of these young kids might be able to venture into the field.”
Fellow junior umpire Lachlan Marks will also be running boundary with the girls.