UMPIRING trailblazer Eleni Glouftsis has declared her first AFL match a success after nailing the first bounce in Sunday's NAB Challenge clash between Carlton and Essendon.

Glouftsis, who became the first female field umpire to adjudicate an official AFL match on Sunday, was also given the tick of approval by umpires boss Wayne Campbell.

The decision on which umpire gets the match underway is left to the whistleblowers to decide and Glouftsis said she wanted that responsibility to "get it out of the way".

"I wasn't 100 per cent happy with it, but I think the rest of the day I bounced well," she said.

"I'm nervous when I go to bounce the ball in any game and obviously I tried to treat it the same as any other game."

Glouftsis, who gave herself a six out of 10 for her first AFL match, said Sunday's experience was fantastic and she appreciated the crowd support. 

Campbell said her decision to take the first bounce showed "enormous courage".

"It shows she's not going to shy away from any hard calls," he said.

"She looked comfortable, paid the frees that needed to be paid ... it was a good result.

"She just said after the game, she realises now that it's whole another step up. In a regular season, it's another step again."

Sunday's match day umpires coach, Hayden Kennedy, will now go through Glouftsis' performance during the week with vision, also with using microphone audio from the umpires. 

The South Australian native will umpire in the VFL this season as one of 12 AFL umpire rookies, sitting the bench at AFL matches in case of injury.

Overall, Campbell said her progression to umpiring at NAB Challenge level had been "terrific".

"As she walked out the ground announcer made a special mention and the crowd clapped, and when she walked off there was a bit of a clap for her as well," he said.

"That doesn't happen to us too often, so if that could become the norm that would be terrific … I don't think it will."