Eleni Glouftsis Named As AFL's First Ever Female Field Coach

The AFL just changed the game. Literally.

Yesterday the Australian Football League named Eleni Glouftsis as umpire for Sunday’s NAB Challenge bout between Carlton and Essendon.

This means Glouftsis, 23, will become the first woman to act as a field ump in an AFL match.

The Adelaide native is already the first female field umpire to work at league level, after she began officiating for the SANFL in 2013.

Glouftsis is now one of 12 rookie umpires working in the AFL. Though she isn’t scheduled to blow the whistle at any premiership season games, she could still be summoned to the big show if another ump is injured.

Speaking to The Advertiser, Glouftsis said this promotion felt like a natural evolution in her career.

“This is my 11th season of umpiring, so it’s not like I’ve just suddenly come up,” she said.

“It’s great to feel like I’m progressing and the move to Melbourne has been valuable in helping me develop not only my fitness but my overall understanding of the game.”

Though it’s taken 119 years for the AFL to take this step towards female inclusion, it’s indeed one that deserves celebration.

It also marks another step towards – hopefully - a national women’s competition.

Glouftsis joins three other female umpires in the AFL: Chelsea Roffey, Rose O’Dea and Sally Boud. (They each work behind goal.)

Her appointment was largely applauded on Facebook, though the words of one commenter ring truest:

“As long as she does a good enough job, she shall be treated as all umpires are treated: Poorly unless it helps the team you support.”

In another sign of increasing equality in the AFL, the league’s only female coach, Peta Searle, recently saw her contract as St Kilda’s Development Coach extended by two years.

More - much more - of this please.

Photo: YouTube.