Ian’s magic moment

By Gavin Staindl
STUCK at his house in Warragul, anxiously waiting for the removalists to show up, local umpire Ian Ballantyne knew that he was scheduled to umpire the seniors in an EDFL match at Buln Buln in two hours time.
He had phoned his fellow umpire telling him that he would miss some of the pre-game preparations but when the removalist truck finally arrived two hours late, Ballantyne knew he would be pushing to make the game on time.
Pulling into the ground as the first bounce got under way, Ballantyne didn’t bother about taking the keys out of the ignition, nor did he bother gathering his feet in the context of the game.
Instead, Ballantyne leapt the fence and streaked to the forward pocket frantically blowing his whistle in time to pay the first free kick of the game.
This is one of many stories that has travelled with Pakenham’s Ballantyne, who last week celebrated his 400th senior game as a local umpire.
Umpiring the Easter Saturday clash between Wonthaggi Power and Leongatha Parrots, the South Gippsland Umpire felt honoured to be given the chance to adjudicate his milestone game alongside good mates Matt Holmes and Steve McNamara as well as son Todd, who came out of retirement to run the boundary.
Compared with player milestones, the recognition he received as a whistle-blower was minimal, not that it bothered Ballantyne who, like every good ump, went about his business with minimal fuss.
“The job of an umpire is to go out there and not be noticed,” Ballantyne, 49, said. “It was good that my mates, family and friends could come down and watch but I am happy with not having any more attention than that.”
Ballantyne made the switch from a footy player to an umpire as a 27-year-old after he decided he had had enough injuries during his 150 games at home club Neerim.
Within a year he was officiating in the Ellinbank and District Football League seniors and by his third year he was umpiring the 1990 EDFL grand final.
Now, Ballantyne has umpired in 14 senior grand finals and is known as one of the best local umpires.
According to AFL hall-of-famer, Gavin Dore, had Ballantyne started umpiring earlier he would have been good enough to be one of the AFL’s best.
Many who know Ballantyne agree; not only is he passionate about footy and the task that comes with adjudicating it, but he is a passionate talker and the relationship he has with the players is why he is considered among the most reliable in the job.
Ballantyne, who is gaining a reputation as a “Harry Potter” look-a-like because of his glasses, was umpiring a game between Moe and Drouin last year when he joined in a bit of banter occurring between two players.
The Moe player responded well to the umpire involvement and light-heartedly told Ballantyne to “back out of it, Harry Potter”, only for his Drouin opponent to respond with, “leave him alone, you’re playing like Hermione Granger”.
This is the type of respect Ballantyne has in the local footballing world – even if it meant later that day his girlfriend Kerry Holland was calling him “Harry”.
AFL umpire Matt Stevic, who coincidently, also registered a personal milestone on the weekend when he umpired his 150th AFL game, said Ballantyne is the type of bloke people look up to.
“Sometimes you can look the part, but fail miserably, but Ian was a great looking umpire, in both senses, and a wonderful role model,” Stevic said.
As for the future, there is life yet in the veteran. “I plan to stick around for one or two more years yet,” Ballantyne said.