An extraordinary sporting event will take place on Saturday 28th June 2008, when female umpires will officiate in every game on the Bellarine Football League program at Queens Park, Highton, where Geelong Amateurs will host Portarlington.

Every single Field, Boundary and Goal umpiring appointment for the day in Seniors, Reserves, U/18’s and U/14’s, will be female. There have been some isolated instances previously where single games have been umpired by a totally female umpire panel, but never at senior level and never for a whole Match day program of 4 matches on the one day.

The promotion of an All-Female Uumpiring Panel day is the initiative of the Geelong Football Umpires League (GFUL) and involves a female exchange program with the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) which will see five young SANFL Female Umpires coming to Geelong to participate in the program.

The five girls coming from South Australia will arrive in Geelong on Thursday evening and return to Adelaide on Sunday.    They will be joined by a great number of GFUL female umpires, including Leigh Davis and Jacqui Ginn who have both been regular senior Field Umpires in the BFL and G&DFL competitions this year and who have both made their GFL debuts on Saturday 21st June.   Several female umpires from other Umpiring Groups, such as Ballarat , Warrnambool and Yarra Ranges will also participate in the program.

In a recipricol exchange arrangement with the SANFL, several GFUL girls have been invited to umpire in an AFL Curtain Raiser game to be played prior to the Port Adelaide v Melbourne game at AAMI Stadium on 23rd August