Keeping a close eye: Chair umpire Thomas Sweeney watches the Australian Open women’s doubles final last month.
Photo by
LUKE HEMER
On one of the final days of an International Tennis Federation tournament in Benalla in the early 2000s, then-Benalla Lawn Tennis Club president Henry Nam struck a deal with a young family friend, offering him lunch in exchange for his help in umpiring a few games.
Benalla local Thomas Sweeney took Nam up on his offer, stepping in to call lines on the final days of the tournament.
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Little did they know, this would be the start of a burgeoning career in tennis officiating which has taken Sweeney around the world.
“He said he’d buy me a sandwich if I was happy to come down and give up my weekend and also, of course, enjoy the tennis from close up,” Sweeney said.
“They gave us a little bit of training in the morning before the matches started — I gave it a go and loved it straight away.
“Through that I got to meet some line umpires and chair umpires who would regularly work at the Australian Open.
“That sounded pretty exciting for a 16-year-old, to be able to go to the big city and get to be part of such a large international event.
“I jumped at the opportunity and started doing the training days down in Melbourne, Mum would drive me down in the car to be a line umpire for a couple of 14-year-olds hitting the ball back and forward as we learnt and practised the techniques.”
Before long Sweeney was calling lines on the biggest stage, officiating his first Grand Slam at 17.
“Pretty soon I got to do my first Australian Open as a line umpire,” Sweeney said as he recalled his early experience.
“So that was an exciting experience when so young and also a brilliant opportunity to earn some pocket money while working at the Australian Open, while some of my friends were working at the supermarket.
“From there it sort of became my summer hobby, every year as I finished school and went to university in Melbourne.
“I continued through the summer and worked for three years after that as an audio-visual technician, while all at the same time continuing to spend my summers on the tennis court and really enjoying that dual life of studying and working at tennis tournaments in my spare time.
“It was at that time when I was at university that I made a transition to chair umpire and then you start again back at the beginning when you’re back with the 14-year-olds hitting the ball back and forward.”
Sweeney’s expertise and umpiring acumen was growing at a rapid rate, it was only a matter of time before it would have him on the circuit full-time.
It was 13 years ago when Sweeney decided to go all chips in on his career move.
He quickly discovered how demanding life as a chair umpire could be, but also incredibly rewarding.
During the past decade, Sweeney’s travelled the world — his role taking him to places he’d only dreamed of as a kid.
“In 2009 I transitioned from my previous job, I had gotten to a level with my chair umpiring that I could start to look at giving it a crack as a full-time profession and have never looked back after 13 years full-time on the tour,” he said.
“It is a full-time profession and you do need to dedicate a large portion of your year to it — it can be, if you’re doing 25-30 weeks of events — that can be a 40 to 45-week commitment being away (from home).
“But part of the privilege and prestige of being a tennis official is that travel component and having the honour to get to see all these amazing places in the world and meet the people, eat the food and see the sights.
“Before I started as a chair umpire I’d only been to New Zealand as a kid and now I’ve been to 73 countries, so it’s been a vehicle through which I’ve been able to see the world with, just by following this round fuzzy ball around the place.”
While on what tennis aficionados refer to as ‘’the tour’’, Sweeney has umpired at all the largest tennis events possible, from Wimbledon to the French Open.
It’s also taken him to the some of the greatest heights of the sporting arena.
“Every event has its highlights — this Australian Open was my 20th in total and my 48th Grand Slam overall,” he said.
“I think probably the highlight for any sports fan would be the Olympics and I’ve been lucky enough to go to the last two in Rio de Janeiro and the Tokyo Olympics just gone.”
This all came about because a youngster took a punt on heading down to the local tennis that day.
Sweeney highlighted just how fulfilling it can be to get involved in the local sporting community.
He encouraged all youngsters to have a go; a burgeoning career in tennis umpiring may be waiting.
“Anyone who is already engaged in their local tennis club, it can be very rewarding, starting from a local level, to give back to the sport,” he said.
“There are opportunities for the really young ones to be ball kids at the Australian Open, and then beyond that, a pathway for officials to get the chance to be on the biggest courts and travel the world like I’ve been able to.”
Without Nam’s encouragement at the beginning, Sweeney said, his path to the pinnacle of the world of chair umpiring would never have presented itself.
“I don’t think any of this would have happened without his help right at the start, I would have never been aware that this was a possibility or a career,” he said.
“In a sense I’ve just followed the pathway to see where it’s led, and it’s taken me to some pretty amazing places.”
Where it all began: Benalla Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club where Tom Sweeney officiated his first match.
Photo by
Simon Ruppert
