Season 9 of the AFLW has seen a whopping 23 state league umpires make their W debut.
In promising signs for the AFL’s goal to have women make up 40% of accredited umpires by 2030, eight of the twenty-three new umpires are women.
Muneerah Foster waves the flags in the WAFL Colts League (2021) (Image Credit: AFL)
Notably, Muneerah Foster has achieved her goal of umpiring at AFLW level. Foster made headlines in 2021 when, as a fifteen-year-old Muslim woman, she began umpiring WAFL Colts football, having begun umpiring just three years beforehand in 2019.
The AFL’s investments in umpiring talent pathways are now producing a talented crop of female umpires from all over the country. Alysha Ramsay of AFL Sydney is a product of the Next Gen development programme. Jenna Green of the EDFL has come through the V/Line Community Umpire Academy Accelerator Squad. 2024 SANFLW Silver Whistle winner Emma Jones did her time in the SANFL development squad.
Now Australia’s top female umpires are now giving back to help support women in umpire coaching. New AFLW umpires Belinda Maher (QAFL), Katelin Bayre (SANFL) and Alysha Ramsay (AFL Sydney) joined twenty-one other emerging umpire coaches to attend the AFL’s inaugural National UMPowered Coaching Conference. The conference, held in April in Melbourne, was designed to support the pathways and development for women in umpire coaching.
Maher, who umpired the Round 4 clash between Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs has now completed a rapid rise up the umpiring ranks.
Belinda started her umpiring career at 15 years old, attending an umpire training night in Carrara where she began her development over the last seven years.
Maher made her QAFL debut in 2023, and managed to earn a spot as a listed AFLW umpire in the same year.
“Belinda’s journey is a testament to her hard work and the growing opportunities for women in umpiring,” said Peter McKenzie, Gold Coast Umpiring Youth Coach.
Congratulations to all field, boundary, and goal umpires who have debuted this year on this great achievement in their umpiring development.
Debutants:
| Round | Name | Game | |
| 1 | Muneerah Foster | West Coast v Richmond | |
| Liam Ramsay | Sydney v Collingwood | ||
| Nathan Wrigley | Sydney v Collingwood | ||
| Emma Louney | GWS Giants v Western Bulldogs | ||
| 2 | Kyle Van Raay | Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide | |
| Bryarne Fry | West Coast v Essendon | ||
| Shamus Dundon | Collingwood v Hawthorn | ||
| Jenna Green | St Kilda v Sydney | ||
| Kayne Nund | Gold Coast v Carlton | ||
| Jack Millar | Fremantle v Adelaide | ||
| Seb Dalgleish | Richmond v GWS Giants | ||
| Zac Reed | Fremantle v Adelaide | ||
| 3 | Emma Jones | Port Adelaide v Fremantle | |
| Taylor Dorsey | Port Adelaide v Fremantle | ||
| Katelin Bayre | Port Adelaide v Fremantle | ||
| Jake Creasey | Adelaide v Hawthorn | ||
| 4 | Belinda Maher | Brisbane v Western Bulldogs | |
| Harrison Bell | St Kilda v Hawthorn | ||
| Mitch Dorling | St Kilda v Hawthorn | ||
| Alysha Ramsay | Sydney v GWS Giants | ||
| James Kerr | West Coast v Brisbane | ||
| 5 | Jason Gibb | GWS Giants v West Coast | |
| Ben Williams | Port Adelaide v Carlton | ||
Article by Patrick Sexton and Jackson Kerr