Northern Tasmania Football Umpires Association president Sarah Shepherd, during national Community Umpiring Week, provided insight into the positives and hardships her group is going through this season.

NTFUA crews wore green armbands last weekend to acknowledge the week which encourages people to get involved in umpiring and promote officiating as integral to the game.

Shepherd said rule changes at AFL level have put further pressure on her umpires and led to ugly instances of abuse in the early rounds of the NTFA and NTJFA.

But the enthusiastic and dedicated leader emphasised her club's story isn't all doom and gloom.

"We've got great young kids coming through who are keen and interested and just love umpiring," she said.

"They also play footy and we believe that helps them with their football, showing that respect and knowing the rules from a different side of the fence.

"We've got great young kids coming through in field umpiring and we're pairing them with senior umpires.

"We've got a big age demographic. There's a lot of experience among us to set them on the right path and to get them up to speed."

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Another big tick for the club has been female participation.

"We've got a great group of girls that have come through this year. There's about 10 of them now, plus me," she said.

"They love umpiring. They love coming, and their families are involved as well.

"They're super excited. You can see them sitting in their group at their table and they're giggling and laughing.

"It's really warming to see and it's creating a really good space for females."

It's a pleasing step forward for the club considering Shepherd was one of only three women umpiring when she started five years ago. Shepherd, who took up boundary umpiring through her husband Hayden, explained why she had stuck with it and taken on leadership roles.

"I like seeing everyone and the group of girls here giggling and laughing and looking forward to game day and their parents too," she said.

"Seeing new friendships forming, not just by all the kids, but the adults with their life skills and what they've been through in their lives.

"And them taking one of the younger kids under their wing and showing them the ropes. I think that's just really heart-warming.

"As a parent, you want your kids to be part of a safe environment and I think that's what we provide."

And like any club, the NTFUA have a committed team of volunteers in leadership positions, social functions and Thursday night meals.

While there are great things happening internally, the umpires are copping it externally.

"It's hard for me to go to games in all honesty, now. It's hard for me to go to games and hear the crowds, which is disappointing," Shepherd said.

"I go and support Hayden and I go and support my stepson Harry, who runs the boundary.

"But it's disappointing to hear that even though the AFL has taken the stance on the umpire abuse, there's different generations along the way that don't seem to recognise that."

She said there'd been umpire abuse tribunals for players and spectators.

"We've got a really young demographic in our club. So it's disappointing 15 and 16 year olds and even younger are being subjected to abuse and being pushed and being attempted to be tripped and those sorts of things, which is what's come out in the last couple of weeks," she said.

"It's hard to stand up on a Thursday night and know that's completely the wrong thing.

"And say 'guys and girls, it will be okay, just stick to what you know, stick to your discipline, consult with your senior umpire colleague. If you need to, come and see us if you're feeling worried or anything like that'.

"It's just making sure that it's a safe area for them to do what they love."

Shepherd explained a player pushed a 15-year-old first-year field umpire which went to the tribunal.

She said umpires were receiving abuse in both senior and junior ranks.

"Speaking to the NTFA and NTJFA, they're jumping on these issues as they come to light so they are getting on the front foot in helping us deal with that," she said.

"But sometimes it's a deterrent for people not to come back to training."

Shepherd said it was important to appropriately deal with those who crossed the line.

"We've got to make sure we stamp out and follow up these things to make sure the appropriate sanctions are put on these players or these people choosing to do the wrong thing," she said.

Shepherd said umpire abuse was worse than usual.

"I'm not sure if the stance the AFL has taken has inflamed it or brought attention to it a bit more," she said.

"I'm not sure but definitely over the past couple of weeks, we've noticed that there's been more and more abuse reports compared to most years. It's not changing for the better which is probably what we expected it to do at this stage."

The new umpire dissent rule means those who talk back or question umpires over decisions risk giving away a free-kick or 50-metre penalty.

It's designed to promote respect for officials.

While players and spectators might be frustrated, umpires are under significant pressure.

"They've just made the game really hard to umpire with so many rule changes and things to keep check of," Shepherd said.

"We follow the line of the AFL and NTFA and NTJFA and their stance and how they want the games to be played locally.

"But it's getting quite a difficult game to umpire with lots of rule changes. It's all about communication and interpretation too, so your interpretation of a rule is different to my interpretation of a rule.

"It's about creating consistency and finding that happy medium where all clubs agree that this is what the expectation is, this is why we're doing it and this is what the umpires are going to be doing in regards to those rule changes."

The second-year president asked for understanding from all involved in footy.

"It's important to know the people that walk out on the field in green, we're a club, we're a team, no different to the ones on either side," she said.

"We have day jobs and families. We're out there because we love football. We love officiating the game. And if that declines, then that affects clubs not being able to play.

"It's more just trying to get across that we are human. We're not out to pick sides or anything like that. We're impartial with what we do.

"It's about cutting a bit of slack, especially for the young ones that are coming in, the next generation of umpires. There's a 4000 umpire shortage Australia wide, so everyone's feeling the pinch."

Meanwhile, Shepherd said the emergence of a worrying AFL-commission report about the treatment of female football umpires nationally came as a shock and her club was doing plenty to ensure the safety of its members.

The AFL formally apologised to female umpires after the University of Sydney report became public a fortnight ago.

The study was about understanding why females are continuing to be under-represented in umpiring and highlighted serious issues such as sexual harassment.

"The report shocked everyone. There was a bit of panic stations in regards to just trying to find out more about it and how (things) got through without knowledge," Shepherd said.

"In regards to us locally here, I haven't read the full report, but I check in with our female umpires. I address the whole crew on a Thursday night.

"If they have games with females that they are respectful, the changerooms are shared between male and female. So the girls are able to get changed without anyone else around.

"I touch base with their parents if they've got any issues or concerns. It's making sure you're touching base with them and following up if they're uncomfortable about anything."

NTFUA training is at Prospect Park on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6pm for those interested.

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