Twenty-five emerging umpire coaches will make their way to Melbourne this weekend to take part in the 2025 National UMPowered Coaching Conference on March 29 and 30.

Now in its second year, the UMPowered Coaching Conference is designed to help women and gender-diverse umpire coaches develop their skills and aims to increase the number of women and gender-diverse people in umpire coaching.

The conference will enable the selected 25 participants to hear from industry leaders, aid the visibility of umpire coaching role models for women, and develop a network of women in umpire coaching across Australia.

The initiative links to the AFL’s Women and Girls Action Plan which at its core, aims to continually progress the game for women and girls across all levels of Australian football.

As part of that vision, it is imperative the AFL creates inclusive pathways for women and gender diverse people in the umpiring department as it strives to achieve its goal for women to make up at least 40 per cent of all accredited umpires by 2030. A key driver of this is more women in umpire coaching roles.

The conference falls just two weeks after Eleni Tee became the first mother to officiate as an AFL field umpire when she returned from maternity leave last Sunday at Adelaide Oval – an incredible accomplishment and testament to the growth of opportunities and support for women in umpiring roles.

AFL Executive General Manager of Game Development Rob Auld congratulated the 25 women selected to take part in the conference.

“It’s fantastic to see another strong group of women selected for the National UMPowered Coaching Conference after the success of last year’s inaugural conference,” Auld said.

“Congratulations to all participants who have been selected to attend the UMPowered Coaching Conference this weekend – it’s a wonderful recognition of their contributions to umpiring which are integral to the continued growth of the game.

“We’re proud to support these women from across the country as they continue to develop their skills, coaching nous and leadership within the local umpiring ranks. Opportunities like the UMPowered Coaching Conference are enabled through the AFL’s commitment to enshrine 10 per cent of the game’s revenue back into game development.”

One of the attendees from last year’s inaugural conference, Cassidy Bodenham from regional Victoria said the UMPowered Conference rekindled her love of umpiring and inspired her to establish her own junior umpiring club.

“I was excited to attend the inaugural UMPowered Coaching Conference last year, and connect with likeminded women who all have different journeys in umpiring,” Bodenham said.

“The UMPowered conference gave me the motivation to create my own avenues for junior umpires to get involved and connect with the game.

“I would never have dreamed of taking this step in the past but the skills I developed from the conference gave me the confidence needed to start the very first junior umpiring club in the Goldfields region.”

UMPowered Coaching Conference attendees: