Female umpiring ranks in the Western Region Football League continue to grow, with one former boundary umpire taking big strides toward her dream of reaching the top.
Shannessy Adams, 30, made history last weekend when she officiated as part of the first ever all-female umpiring panel in AFL Victoria’s TAC Cup competition.
But it is the female numbers at local level that are most pleasing for WRFL head of umpiring Mark Westgarth, with an influx of new umpires entering the competition in 2015.
“We’ve probably got three or four goal, 10 or 11 boundary and half a dozen field (female) umpires new to this season,” Westgarth said.
“It’s growing, no doubt, through our academies. They all start at under-9s and under-10s and move up.”
MacKillop College, where Westgarth works as a teacher, started the first umpiring academy in 2009 with backing from AFL Victoria.
Since then, the WRFL has introduced similar programs at Westbourne Grammar and Caroline Springs College.
“It’s all about the skills and we teach boundary, field and goal umpiring,” he said.
“It runs from 4pm to 5.15pm, straight after school. A lot of coaching goes into it.
“But we’ve got three or four guys umpiring in Division 1 that started in schools’ academies, and it’s taken them four or five years.”
Westgarth said Adams’ success was a testament to the program run at the WRFL.
“She works really, really hard in terms of running, but all credit goes to Lee Rowbottom, our boundary coach,” he said.
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Last Modified on 13/05/2015 15:33