On June 27 at the Goulburn Soldiers Club, Claire Polosak will run a Community Umpiring Course which, she says, is designed to help reduce the taboo around umpiring and encourage people to give it a go.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Having grown up in Goulburn, Polosak found umpiring quite by accident. Now, at the age of 31, she is one of the best in the world.
In her early life, she said that she had no interest in playing or following cricket, but was told about an umpiring course by a friend.
"There wasn't any girl's cricket when I was growing up," Polosak said.
"I didn't want to play [cricket] with the boys and I just wasn't interested in it. I know lots of girls that did, but I played other sports.
"When I was about 16, a friend came to school with a flyer, and she said 'you should give this a go', and it was the flyer advertising the umpiring course."
For a reason she couldn't quite explain, Polosak said that completing the course for "something I was determined to do", and the interceding 15 years have seen her officiate men's and women's matches at the highest level.
And at the end of this month, she will return to Goulburn and offer locals the same chance she grabbed as a teenager.
Officiating a cricket match can be a daunting task for many of the untrained volunteers who do it to help out, such as "mums, dads, parents, teachers, players who are asked to umpire", Polosak said.
"[In the course there will be] a few skills, a bit of knowledge, a bit of confidence so that they don't shy away from the opportunity."
The course will be run in conjunction with the Goulburn District Cricket Association, which is encouraging women to take part.
"That's a big part of my role with Cricket NSW, is working on female engagement," Polosak said.
"Working out why females make up 50 per cent of our population, and yet we are, I think, about 5.6 per cent of the umpiring population."
While the course will not be specifically aimed at women, Polosak hopes that her presence and success will serve as encouragement to youngsters who might be interested but intimidated by what has traditionally been a male-dominated field.
"I really think it's a lack of awareness about the fact that it's possible to be a female umpire," she said.
"I'm not doing anything different for female umpires as what I do for male umpires that start out, it's just being that point of contact for them to know that it's possible."
The course will take place from 6.30pm on Thursday June 27. Tickets are $40 per person, but it is free for the first eight males to sign up, and for all women.