A group of Western Football League umpires have been working hard behind the scenes to try and make umpiring a better environment for females.
The league has been involved in an AFL initiative, Mates on the Mark, which is involves a group of umpires from the league working together to make some change.
Terry West was approached to join the program and he jumped at the chance.
“There’s eight of us,” he said. “We had three sessions that were run by a few companies.
“We had AFL players and former AFL players speak with us. Darcy Moore spoke about how he saw things as a captain of an AFL club.
“Ben Brown highlighted stats on women’s and girls participation in local footy.”
West said the sessions allowed the group to put forward their own experiences in football and what they’ve seen in the local community.
He said they spoke about how they wanted to change things.
“We want to see more female umpires,” he said. “They have never been super high but we’ve got an insight into other areas and it’s a national issue.
“The first session was more about why we’re not able to retain female umpires and why they leave.
“They don’t have female role models and there’s a lot of older men who are stuck in the same ways that it’s a man’s sport.
“We have to change that midget and the keep them in the league as well.”
One of the other sessions involved the group highlighting 10 key issues that they wanted to change.
West said they are taking baby steps to try and change things.
“We picked one or two things each,” he said. “We wanted to try and do an all female umpiring team.
“We were able to successfully do that with two male umpires as we didn’t have enough female field umpires.
“Seven out of nine was really good. We want to show people in the community that girls and daughters can get involved and they don’t have to play.
“I want to make change and I’m just one person. Together with other people I can learn from them and work together to see what comes from group.”
West said he would jump at the chance to be involved in this program again next season if he was given the opportunity to.
He said the current group had a group chat and were constantly talking about what they would continue to do.
West said they won’t stop pushing for a better environment for women despite the program ending.
“We want to make it a welcoming place for everyone,” he said.
