As an AFL umpire, each game presents memorable moments.
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For Bendigo's Tim Lougoon it's the deafening silence of the crowd during the minute of silence at the 2017 Anzac Day Clash which he will never forget.
"I still get chills when I think about it," Lougoon said.
"Walking out onto the ground at the MCG - having the Last Post played and then it falls complete silent.
"Managing to get 100,000 people to stay silent is a spine tingling moment."
Lougoon made his debut as an AFL umpire during round five of the 2014 AFL season and recently reached a 100-game milestone when he umpired the 2019 round one clash between Richmond and Carlton.
However, Lougoon's appointment to the AFL didn't happen over night.
He umpired hundreds of local and VFL games before he started as a boundary umpire with the AFL.
"I first started playing football when I was a junior with St Monica's school team," Lougoon said.
After a few injuries he decided it was time to follow in the footsteps of his father Brian, who was a boundary umpire during the 1970s.
"My younger brother also played for St Monica's, so I started doing a bit of boundary umpiring for the team to fill in for some of the parents," Lougoon said.
After developing a knack for umpiring, he knew he had found his favourite place on the field.
"A few people then suggested to me to join the Bendigo Umpires Association," he said.
"I was in Bendigo for around five or six years and then progressed to the VFL."
A highlight of this period of his career was umpiring in the 2012 and 2013 VFL Grand finals.
And then on the eve of round one of the 2014 AFL season, a phone call changed it all.
Lougoon made his debut in the AFL during round five and remembers the feeling of walking out onto the ground at the MCG.
"It was a pinch yourself moment," Lougoon said.
"I played AusKick as a little tacker at the MCG, but it was first time on the ground in about 20 years."
"Umpiring my first AFL game was something I had aspired to achieve for such a long time and to realise it had become reality - was truly an amazing moment."
In addition to his AFL duties, Lougoon returns to Bendigo frequently to attend BUA training sessions.
"One of the main things which stick in my mind are the great people I have met along the way and the friendships I've made," Lougoon said.
"When I come back to Bendigo I run into so many people that I knew back when I was umpiring here.
"Hopefully I can give them some insight into what it's like to be an AFL umpire and give them some tips to help them achieve that goal."
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