By Sophie Taylor
The 2025 First Nations Tournament is an important milestone for many, but not many more than umpire Mark Munnich.
A proud Yawuru/Gunggandiji/Yued man, Munnich began his netball journey as so many do: playing social netball with family and friends.
The umpiring part didn’t come until later.
“When I was young I played social netball with my mum and dad, and our family friends,” he said.
“As a player, I used to get really cheeky with the umpires, give them grief.
“Then after many years, I thought, OK, I'm gonna give umpiring a try, I’m gonna put my money where my mouth is.”
It didn’t take long for Munnich to progress through Netball NT’s umpiring pathway.
His skills and continued improvement earned him ongoing progression from a National C Badge to the National B Badge, which in no time at all culminated in the National A Badge at the 2017 National Netball Championships (NNCs).
By 2019, Munnich had made the move from Darwin to Sydney and officially joined Netball NSW’s umpiring pathway, and was re-endorsed for his A Badge in 2021. He also made Netball Australia’s Umpire Talent Pool in 2022.
But there came a time when on-court challenges caused an eventual pause on his contribution to the sport.
“Being open and honest, there were lots of politics and I just needed to take a break from it,” Munnich said.
“I had just done underage Nationals, but there were some years that I had a lot of setbacks and a lot of bad experiences from that, and to be honest very unsafe experiences.
“There was a culture I didn’t really like at the time which put me off a bit, so I took some time away from the court to focus on my career as a lawyer instead."
As netball tends to do, after taking time off, netball found its way back into Munnich’s life.
First at association level, then back umpiring at Premier and Metro League levels in Sydney.
“I call it ‘climbing that mountain again’ because I think part of me regrets it (taking a break), because I could have potentially made it further in umpiring, but a part of me doesn't regret looking after me,” he said.
Now, he’s set to umpire at the First Nations Tournament for the first time, less than two years after formally returning to the sport.
“I was talking to a couple of umpires who had done the tournament last year, and they said it was the best time,” he explained.
“So when Helen George rang me, I said ‘yeah, sure, I’d love to’.”
Speaking of receiving that phone call from Helen George, Munnich is hoping to rediscover his ‘spark’ at this year’s tournament.
“You know the sense of excitement, those butterflies?” he said.
“I have that sense of excitement (about the competition) because I’d heard a lot of good things.”
Leading into this week’s event, Munnich is feeling more than just excitement – there’s a sense of pride.
“The experience of being around our mob is something that will really make it very special,” Munnich said.
“What makes it even more exciting is being around other First Nations athletes, and the talent that our mob, particularly in the umpiring space and also on the on the netball courts have.”
That pride extends to Munnich’s own experiences within the sport, and the mixed feelings returning to high performance netball.
“I’m doing it for my family and my community, but I’m also doing this to reclaim that lost time,” he said.
Sharon Kelly, Helen George and Collette Brennan were also big encouragers to Munnich to return to umpiring. Most important of all was Munnich’s dad.
“Earlier this year I lost my dad unexpectedly, which really rattled me and my family, and to be honest I thought umpiring was not going to be a priority for me anymore and thought I was going to retire.
“But my dad was a big supporter in me getting back into it (umpiring), and I did him proud because he’d always ask ‘when am I going to go back to umpiring.’”
His dad’s support played a big role in Munnich rediscovering his confidence and love for the game.
“He was our rock,” Munnich explained.
“He could see I wasn’t confident and happy when I wasn’t umpiring and he said to get back into it, so I did.
“As hard as it may be that he’s not here, showing up each week is something I always carry with me. I want to continue to make him and everyone around me proud.”
