IC17 Umpire Spotlight – Oscar Ayyadi

Name:

Oscar Ayyadi

Age: 

23

Nationality:

British with Irish and Moroccan parents

Playing experience: 

I played fleetingly with my cousins, but never stepped up to playing in the domestic league here in London. My granddad had 6 brothers who all moved to Australia, they brought the game code and my love was formed early on. I watched it religiously.

How you became an umpire: 

I refereed to Level 4 standard in ‘soccer’ refereeing only stopping two years ago, in 2010 I saw a add pop up looking for umpires and thought why not! Got in contact with Shane Hill, who was the umpires manager then and umpired my first game with Luke Shaw down at Motspur Park! To say Shawry carried me through the game is an understatement!

Accomplishments:

Obviously umpiring the premiership grand final in London in 2015 was a highlight, but I can’t look beyond my biggest achievement which is having the privilege to umpire at IC.

 

 

IC17 Selection: 

We were selected for European Championship in 2016 and was assessed and coached by Adam Davis who is the National Umpires Development Manager. We went through a rigorous week of officiating and training but bonded amazing well as a group of umpires. After that tournament I was ranked in the top 3 umpires and earned selection to IC.

Preparation for the IC:

I’m umpiring here in London, week in week out alongside training with the umpires in London weekly and personally training. I’m also doing a lot of research and watching as much footy as possible to pick up tips for the senior umpires. One of the key area I want to develop over this season is my consistently with bouncing, so I can be on par with the home grown umpires in Australia.