ABC News
source: ABC
After the AFLW season opener between Carlton and Collingwood, boundary umpires Melissa Sambrooks, Kaitlin Barr and Greta Miller were taken into a private room under the guise of getting some feedback.
In there, boundary coach Darren Wilson told them over the phone that the following weekend, they’d each become the first female boundary umpires to officiate a men’s AFL game.
“We were all in shock,” Miller told ABC Sport,
She and Sambrooks officiated Carlton and Essendon’s game on Thursday, while Barr umpired North Melbourne and Adelaide’s game at Docklands on Saturday.
“It just felt like a blur. That whole night my hands were shaking, I couldn’t stop smiling. My cheeks hurt but it just felt so surreal,” Miller said.
“I couldn’t go to sleep [that night] because it felt like Christmas.”
Thankfully for the Miller, the night came around very quickly, helping with the nerves and anticipation.
“As it got closer, I had to switch on and ‘OK, job starts now’,” she said.
“I just treated it the same [as any game]. I still had nerves, but it was just making me perform better, just go to a higher level.”
Both Miller and Sambrooks started umpiring at just 12 at their local footy league — both in search of some extra pocket money — while Barr took it up in her final year of high school.
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