Australia's Women's Baseball Championships to feature all-women Umpiring Crews

Baseball Australia announced that the Women's Championship and the Youth Women's Championship will appoint all-female umpiring crews.

Leanne Gearside, Alisha Jewry, Lilian King, Jen Langlands, Carla Pinder and Jeanine Thompson will serve as umpires for the Women's Baseball Championship, to be held from April 13 to 19 in Melbourne.

King returned to Australia from Daytona, Florida's prestigious Harry Wendelstedt Professional Umpire School. Lilian attended after winning a scholarship through LevelUmp, a US-based organisation that supports women and other under represented groups in baseball.

Irma Cortez, Jan Gatti, Liliana Ostara, Anahera Russell, Tessa Sard and Jenelle Stafilis will umpire the Youth Women's Baseball Championship in Melbourne from April 15 to 19.

"In 2020, we set an ambitious goal of having the 2025 Australian Women's Championships fully staffed by female umpires," said Baseball Australia's Umpire Manager, Brett Robson.. "In the years since, Baseball Australia has grown opportunities for women in baseball, including the Australian Youth Women's Championships and the Little League Girls tournament."

Fiona Lambrick, Australia's pioneer in umpiring for women, will lead and supervise the crew. She has attended four Women's Baseball World Cups as an umpire.

"I am just ecstatic to see this year's championship with an all-female crew. Being able to lead the crew is special," Lambrick said. "After being in this sport for over 25 years, and umpiring 20, seeing the challenges from a female player perspective as an umpire, the sport has moved forward in many ways for females. I'm looking forward to being able to provide guidance to all female umpires and encourage them to strive to be the best that they can be".