A new pathway for females looking to get into umpiring will be up and running in 2023 with the Goulburn Murray region’s first Female Umpire Academy set to be launched.
The Goulburn Valley Football Umpires Association initiative aims to focus on the recruiting and retaining of female umpires and provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for anyone looking to get involved in the sport.
AFL Goulburn Murray director of umpiring Andrew Moore said while the ratio of female to male umpires in the GVFUA was not too bad compared to the rest of Victoria, the organisation believed it could do better.
"The aim is to increase female participation across umpiring whether it is field, boundary or goal umpiring, which would be a positive for everyone,“ Moore said.
“Not only would this result in covering more games and having more umpires, but make umpiring more diverse and inclusive.”
Set to be launched in February, the academy will feature umpire training and mentoring sessions, with Moore saying umpire training could sometimes be intimidating.
“It will essentially be female-only sessions,” he said.
“That’s a really good way of breaking down the barriers of getting involved based on the feedback from across Victoria.
“Then slowly we’ll include them in the full association training where they’re going to know more than one person and feel more welcome.
“And hopefully they stick around and have an enjoyable experience.”
While the date of the initial female-only come-and-try session is yet to be confirmed, Moore encouraged aspiring umpires to come down and give it a try, with the sessions providing an introduction to umpiring.
“Come along to training, have a bit of a go at field, goal and boundary umpiring and then have a bit of a sit and chat,” Moore said.
"We’ll explain the what’s what, the who’s who and the what needs to happen to get involved and then we encourage them to continue to attend training.
“We encourage anyone who wants to get involved in umpiring in any way, any age, nationality, any demographic or age group to do so, they’re always welcome.”
For more information on how to get involved in umpiring for the 2023 season check out the Goulburn Valley Football Umpires Association Facebook page.