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Sport

12 July, 2024

Umpiring hub for females

YOUNG girls and women with a passion for football umpiring are encouraged to attend a special clinic in Warrnambool next month.

By Staff Writer

Sharra McNaughton, Charlie McNaughton, Lucy Howland, Lilla Adamson and Caitlin O’Keefe.
Sharra McNaughton, Charlie McNaughton, Lucy Howland, Lilla Adamson and Caitlin O’Keefe.

The Warrnambool ‘Experience Hub’ will be the final round of hub activities as part of the AFL program.

The AFL launched its 2024 Experience Hub program earlier this year, with workshops held at seven locations across the state.

The Warrnambool event, the last for the year, will be held at Reid Oval on Wednesday, August 14 to accommodate a growing interest in umpiring and to ease travel requirements on locals.

The hubs cover topics such as teamwork, communication and decision making and link to the league’s Women and Girls Action Plan which, at its core, aims to continually progress the game for women and girls across all levels of football.

As part of that vision, it’s imperative the AFL creates inclusive pathways for women in umpiring as it strives to achieve its goal for women to make up at least 40 per cent of all accredited umpires by 2030.

AFL executive general manager of game development, Rob Auld, said the Experience Hubs were key to attracting more women and girls into umpiring.

“The Experience Hubs form an important initiative to help connect women and girls umpires within their region, allowing them to exchange stories, create friendships and provide the opportunity for them to hear and learn from top umpires in the state,” Auld said.

“Creating positive experiences and inclusive environments is vital to attracting more female umpires as well as retaining them in the system, so we need to ensure we’re doing everything we can as we strive to achieve our vision in the Women and Girls Action Plan.”

Mr Auld said as part of the AFL’s commitment to grow the game, the AFL Commission made the decision in 2022 to enshrine 10 per cent of the game’s total assessable revenue back into game development.

This initiative is part of that investment.

“If you have an interest in umpiring or would like to know more, I’d encourage you to head along to your nearest Experience Hub; there’s many health, wellbeing and social benefits to umpiring too,” Mr Auld said.

Warrnambool’s Experience Hub on August 14 will run from 6.15pm-8pm.

Ali Miles will talk to the group about fuelling for performance while AFLW umpire Sam Ritchie will talk about ‘game day.’

The group will also learn some recovery techniques that help get through the final stretch of the season.

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