Emerging WDFUA umpires to officiate in Sunday's Hampden league junior semi-finals

Over 30 umpires will be officiating at DC Farren Oval in Mortlake for the finals, with a strong group of young boundary umpires to take part.

Caitlin Kavanagh - who is the Bump coach at the Warrnambool District Football Umpires Association - said it was an exciting opportunity for the youngsters to officiate finals, with boundary, goal and central umpires to be given a chance.

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"I've been super excited with the numbers we've had, how keen they've all been to umpire so it's nice to see them out there on Sunday and loving it," she said.

Kavanagh said she had been blown away by the interest in umpiring this season.

"We've had some new centrals and some new goalies who have joined the association - we've had an initiative where if you umpire five games you get $100 so that's definitely bumped up the numbers," she said.

"The social aspect of umpiring is really positive to be able to get out there with each other - to have that banter is great. The future is looking really good - the juniors are the lifeblood of your association so to have the numbers we do is really exciting."

Jack Searle, 12, is one of the budding boundary umpires who will officiate on Sunday and said he loved being involved after joining the association this season.

"I like getting more fit - you get to meet a lot of new people which is awesome," he said. "I'm excited, the finals are going to be really fun."

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