The princess and the umpire

by Nicholas Duck
It's not every day that you get to meet a member of the Belgian royal family and tell them about the beauty of Australian rules football.
But that's exactly what Drouin umpire Elise Barratt found herself doing when she was given the chance to meet Princess Astrid of Belgium at Marvel Stadium recently.
It's an unusual thing for sure, something that Elise admitted afterwards.
"I had to do a double take when they asked me. Like, what an amazing opportunity to represent community football," she said.
Elise, who umpires local football with the Gippsland Umpires Association, was chosen due to her previous involvement in and advocation for female participation in sport, both for playing and officiating.
Having helped deliver a number of programs with AFL Victoria, when the question was asked of who might be a good fit to talk footy with the princess during her visit to Australia, Elise's name was the one that came up.
"I was really shocked and honoured. I love umpiring and supporting women, not just umpires but women in general," she said.
"It was really nice for the AFL to reach out because I think it shows they see what I do at the GUA and appreciate that."
Elise was part of a presentation to Princess Astrid at Marvel Stadium as well as her 40-plus entourage that involved AusKickers practicing their skills along with a cricket demonstration.
With just a few minutes alone with the princess, Elise said she had to play things by ear.
"I explained the basics of umpiring and what happened at a community level and what the kids were doing on the field. There was a bit of a language barrier which made things a bit trickier."
The difference between Australian rules football and regular football also proved to be a bit of a challenge.
"She was gorgeous actually, when I was explaining it she said 'yes, I know the Matildas!' I was like 'close!'," Elise said with a laugh.
Despite feeling some nerves due to the size of the event, Elise felt she handled the occasion well.
"Because there were 40 people there as part of her entourage it was a little bit overwhelming at times, on the whole I think I handled it quite well but it was one of those nerve-wracking things."
After her brush with fame, she's now heading back to umpiring, as well as her burgeoning osteopathy career.
"It will never happen to me again in my lifetime. It's such a surreal thing, I'm still pinching myself that it actually happened," she said.