Footy uniting continents

Emil Hall and Julia Malan are now a part of the wider Gippsland footy family.

By RUSSELL BENNETT

JUST three years ago, South African-born Emil Hall and his younger sister Julia were living about a 45-minute drive from Cape Town.
They were facing an uncertain future – with crime and corruption a big part of the community in which they lived.
Fast forward to 2013 and the teenagers, now living in Warragul and facing a much more secure future, are two of the rising crop of youngsters in the Gippsland Umpires Association (GUA), and on Sunday both officiated in an EDFL under-18 finals match.
The power of football to reach out and include people from all walks of life has never been more evident.
Local football legend and GUA recruitment officer Bruce Pratt encouraged the pair to join up after a visit to their school – Chairo Christian School in Drouin – earlier this year.
When Emil and Julia gained permanent Australian residency with their father in 2010, they’d never seen a game of Aussie Rules.
“We didn’t even know it existed,” Emil said.
“It was all foreign to us.”
But over time, their interest in the game grew.
“We wanted to know if it was better than Rugby … it’s not,” Emil said bluntly.
“But that’s like asking an Australian if (Rugby) Union or footy is better – you’d say footy.”
Emil and Julia’s school mates would often talk about the big game on the weekend and ask them which AFL side they followed. Their answer was simple … they didn’t have a favourite team. And since starting along their umpiring pathways earlier this year, the pair admit to not knowing the score of the games they’ve officiated in.
It doesn’t matter though, really. Their job is to just watch the ball and make each call on its own merits.
The pair took up positions on opposing boundary lines on Sunday for Garfield’s big under-18s semi-final against Cora Lynn and both are thinking about the next step in their local sporting careers.
Emil wants to see where his umpiring takes him – with an eye towards a field umpire’s position in the coming seasons – and he also dreams of playing top-flight hockey.
Julia wants to get involved the local netball scene next season and continue her own sporting journey.
Emil and Julia do miss the family they still have back in South Africa, but they’re looking forward to the opportunities in Australia not available to them in their homeland.
“State funding gets taken away and the people that actually need to benefit from it never get the money,” Emil said.
“In Australia, that would never happen. It’s all fair and regulated.
“In South Africa these days, it’s sad but it’s absolutely the truth, it’s a very race-based society.
“There is almost like a level of people who can be accepted to do jobs. If you’re from African descent, you’ve got more of a chance than if you’re from European descent.
“We would have an uncertain future, but in Australia it would be certain. If we want to become bricklayers, we know we’re going to have a job one day. But if you’re in South Africa, you have to compete with people who may be better than you – or maybe not – but if their skin colour is different, that’s all that matters. That’s the main issue.”
Emil and Julia – both currently in year nine – want to go on to university and study agricultural science and physiotherapy respectively.
But right now they love the inclusiveness they feel as part of the Gippsland footy community, and as Bruce Pratt told them when he recruited them into the fold, “You have the best seat in the house to watch the game”.