Corey Bowen - AFL
Adelaide’s Corey Bowen is knocking on the door of AFL senior umpiring selection but his career as an umpire could have ended over an incident at an Under-9s match seven years ago. Bowen was watching as the teams shook hands when a team manager began pushing players over alleging that one of the juniors had spat at him. The manager was later given a life ban. Only 16 at the time, Bowen had to endure hearings, late night phone calls and the stress of testifying. “I was thinking to myself, is it worth it? Do I really want to do this,” Bowen recalls. The 24-year-old took up umpiring in high school to make some pocket money and his talent was spotted and he was nominated for the South Australian National Football League Umpiring Academy. Bowen finds that his growing umpiring skills include communication and composure. “You have to handle pressure when forty-odd thousand people are screaming at you and players as well. You have to stay calm and relaxed so that you think clearly and make the right decisions.” He finds that these skills have also helped him as a spare parts interpreter in the motor trade where he says he now finds there’s “no problem” in handling angry and frustrated customers. With his National Officiating Scholarship Bowen hopes to make the AFL senior umpires list and down the track to umpire a grand final at the MCG.
