Women & Girls in Umpiring

Women & Girls involvement in umpiring  is a priority across South Australia, with additional opportunities providing a great platform to promote the recruitment, and retention, of women & girls umpires across the state.

Pleasingly SANFL now has over 250 registered female umpires across the state, making up around 12% of all umpires and hope to further grow this number towards 20% in coming years. Around 150 of these umpires are registered with the SANFL Juniors competition and we have also seen greater involvement in umpiring in regional areas with Eastern Eyre, Port Lincoln, River Murray Riverland & Yorke Peninsula Football Leagues all having Women & Girls umpires involved in umpiring senior men’s A-grade football, some of which has been a first for their Leagues.

EmpowHER

SANFL hosts the EmpowHER Women & Girls in umpiring program which invites all South Australian Women and Girls who are umpires or umpire coaches to connect across different activities throughout the year to build skills. share experiences, provide education and create social opportunities.  Currently we have around 260 registered Women & Girl umpires in SA compared to around 180 at the end of 2023. This is great as it means more Women & Girls are getting involved in umpiring and are more likely getting an opportunity to train with other Women & Girls more regularly, but they are still in the minority, hence why SANFL wants to provide these dedicated opportunities to train, connect and socialize as one group, no matter experience or skill level, all women & girl umpires are welcome.

Previous events we have hosted include:

• Women & Girls in Umpiring training session & Dinner
• Adelaide Crows facility tour hosted by then AFLW captain Chelsea Randall
• AFLW Match Day Experience & Dinner
• Ten Pin Bowling & Umpiring Quiz

All Women & Girl umpires in SA that are registered on Officials HQ will receive an invitation to future events and are encouraged to attend. Make sure you are registered on Officials HQ to receive further information.

Providing Opportunities 

In addition to the launch of EmpowHER, in line with the AFL’s Women and Girls Game Development Action Plan, SANFL has been working to provide equal opportunities for women and girls to be involved in umpiring. Some of the actions this has lead to include: Appointment of more Women & Girl coaches and liaisons across community leagues, update and provision of different cuts and styles of umpiring uniforms to be more suitable to Women & Girl Umpires,  mentoring and game day appointments that have Women & Girl involved purely in female footy competitions if they wish  and inclusive umpiring group education.

SANFL will continue to provide opportunities for Women & Girls to begin their umpiring career and encourage anyone interested in umpiring to reach out at the following link to learn more: https://www.play.afl/umpire/become-an-umpire/